ã€ŠSorainellaã€‹


 UPDATE: Girl Power

    Outskirts of Seattle, EARTH

    The floor of the warehouse was littered with rusted metal and broken glass. Concrete showed through broken tile, thrown into sharp relief by the sunlight glaring in through the broken windows and holes in the rusted roof. The graffiti lining the walls was lit up in some places, while the shadows- made darker by the random patches of light- hid the rest.

    Many of the overhead lights had crashed to the ground, circled by broken tiles that marked the impact. Some of the lights that were still hanging were doing so by a thread, and still more lights looked as though they had been smashed by a thrown stone. And the few, rare lights that were still operational were now on, shining on a rather alarming scene.

    Six armed men, most wearing jeans and leather jackets, stood in a semi-circle surrounding a shivering teenage girl. She was curled in on herself, on the ground, her back against a steel pillar, her arms hugging her knees to her chest. Her long red hair was messy, showing where the men around her had used it as a handhold to grab her, and dried blood crusted around a cut on her temple. Tears trickled down her face as she looked up at her captors, fear darkening her blue eyes.

    One of the men cleared his throat, calling the attention of the others.

    ¡°Alright, the boss will be here soon.¡± His voice was gravelly, as though he chain smoked a pack of cigarettes everyday. ¡°You two,¡± he motioned to two men on either side of him, ¡°stay here and watch her. The rest of us are going to patrol the area, just in case one of the gangs in the area decides to get in on our paycheck.¡±

    ¡°We sure we have the right girl? One of the men said, his voice almost comically high pitched, ¡°Didn¡¯t they say she was going to be trouble?¡±

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Another man grunted. ¡°She looks like the one in the picture, isn¡¯t our fault if we grabbed the wrong one. And if they refuse to pay us, well¡­¡± He drew his gun out of the waistband of his jeans with a sneer, a round of snickers going around the group.

    ¡°Alright you lot, let¡¯s get to work. Get moving.¡± The leader said, his yellow, craggy teeth bared in a grin. The two men moved to flank the girl, while the rest followed the leader out of the warehouse door. The last one closed the door behind them, the rusted hinges causing an incredible racket.

    The second the door closed, the two men left inside the warehouse immediately shuffled away from the girl and sat down on a clean, unbroken patch of floor. They both lit a cigarette, one of them pulling a pack of cards out of their pocket. The girl watched as they started a card game, blinking tears out of her eyes. She rested her head on her knees, shaking subtly, but made no noise.

    The warehouse descended into silence, broken only by the fwip of cards moving.

    The two guards were absorbed in their game,so absorbed that they didn¡¯t notice the electric blue eyes of the girl, now dry, observe them with cold detachment. They didn¡¯t see one of her hands slip down from around her knees, down to her boot. And they definitely didn¡¯t see the throwing knife that she soundlessly slid out of the sheath in her boot, not until said knife was sticking out of one of their throats.

    The other man gaped, his shock giving the girl, who had started moving at the same time as her knife, time to rush up behind him and put a combat knife to his throat.

    ¡°You try to make a sound, and you won¡¯t have a painless death like your friend.¡± She whispered in his ear. Her voice was lilting and musical, making her cold and detached tone far more terrifying.

    The man resisted the urge to gulp, resisted the urge to breathe, hyper aware of the knife rested delicately on his throat. Noticing this, the girl let out a laugh. It was warm, bright, genuinely amused, and the scariest thing the man had ever heard in his life.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°If you swear on your life,¡± -another giggle as the knife on his throat moved slightly, as though to remind him it was there- ¡°that you¡¯ll be quiet, tap the ground with your right hand.¡±

    The man smacked his entire hand on the ground hard enough for the skin to turn red and start stinging. The knife disappeared and the girl moved so that she was standing in front of him, looking him in the eyes. She was smiling warmly, would even have looked friendly if not for the ice behind her blue eyes.

    ¡°So,¡± She said conversationally, ¡°Who hired you guys to kidnap me anyways? A reason why would also be nice to have.¡±

    The man froze, his mind churning. If he told her he didn¡¯t know, she might kill him out of rage. But if he gave her a random name, and she found out he lied, she would definitely kill him.

    ¡®But, that would depend on her getting out of here.¡¯ A voice in his head whispered. ¡®She only killed the other guy cuz she got lucky. Look at her, she¡¯s a high schooler.¡¯

    Decision made, the man went to open his mouth¡­ only to see the girl holding a combat knife, flipping and playing with it with an ease that showed her familiarity with the weapon. He immediately changed his mind.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know who it was! Only that boss guy does! He got the call, then came up to me and my friend and asked if we wanted in. Myfriend, or, well, my ex-friend said yes and dragged me in too! This is my first time doing something like this, I swear. It was a lot of cash! My cat needs to go to the vet, and I have student loans! Please don¡¯t kill me, I still haven¡¯t beat my brother¡¯s record on Guitar Hero!¡± He begged. His voice was slightly hysterical, but he kept his volume as low as he could.

    The girl tilted her head to the side, her amusement obvious, showing even in her eyes to an extent. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m Mike.¡± He said, his tone cautious. He didn¡¯t know where this was going, and he didn¡¯t like it.

    The girl nodded decisively. ¡°Mike. My name is Aurelie.¡±

    ¡°Okaaaay.¡± Mike drew the word out, confused. Why was she giving him her name?

    And then the world went black.

    ~~~~~~

    Aurelie slid her combat knife back into its sheath, perfunctorily checking that Mike¡¯s chest was still moving and that he was merely unconscious. She checked her list again. Pros of keeping him alive was that she had a contact in the Seattle area. Cons of keeping him alive was that there was someone who could identify her. Though he seemed to be too scared of her to try to backstab her, and she would, of course, keep him on a short leash before trusting a thing he said. And she definitely needed a contact in the area. It would have made the recent mission much easier, and allowed her to anticipate this kidnapping bullshit.

    She stepped toward the dead man, pulling her knife out of his throat, and avoiding the small splash of blood this created, as well as the growing puddle of blood. She gave the blade a cursory wipe on the dead man¡¯s shirt, deciding she¡¯d sit down and clean it better when she had time. She also took the opportunity to divest the dead man of his gun, then paused and went back to do the same with Mike.

    Spotting her messenger bag in the corner, she walked over to it and put the guns inside after ensuring the safety was on, and took inventory. Her phone, headphones, and solar powered charger were there. Some sticky notes, a random pencil, two daggers, six additional throwing knives, and her other combat knife, and¡­ ooh, Cheetos! She¡¯d forgotten she had those. Promising herself she would eat them later, she stood up and slung the bag across her shoulder, making sure it was secure.

    She had already taken stock of the exits. The door was immediately out. The rusted hinges would give her escape away to the captors that patrolled outside. And if she tried to jump through a window, there was a high chance that she would run into one of the men on patrol. Her best bet was to go somewhere humans tended not to look. Up.

    The girl looked up at the higher windows. They were near the roof, making it easy for her to get onto said roof after she went through them.

    But before she did that¡­ she quickly reached into her bag taking out the sticky note pad and pencil. She quickly drew a butterfly with a snowflake pattern on its wings, folded the note, and slipped it into the pocket of Mike¡¯s jacket. Proof that he was hers now.

    Then she broke out in a run towards the wall, jumping as high up as she could before grabbing one of the industrial shelves still there. They were old, but they were still more than sturdy enough to hold her weight. She climbed them like a ladder, until she reached the top shelf, which conveniently put her right in front of the windows she wanted. She carefully removed the broken glass from one pane so that she wouldn¡¯t cut herself, then climbed out of the window, grabbed the edge of the roof, and effortlessly hauled herself up.

    She turned to take in the birds eye view of the warehouse area around her and smirked.

 So Bad That It Works In Their Favor...

    She took a breath, and then slipped her phone out of her bag. Pressing the number on speed dial, she waited. As expected, the phone was picked up before the first ring was over. What wasn''t expected was the high pitched nasally voice that answered asked, "Who is this?"

    Resisting the urge to tell the girl that her name should have showed up on caller id, the red head instead answered, "Hi, my name is Aurelie Kanos, and I need to talk to Zane. Is he there?"

    "Yeah, but he''s in the shower. What do you want with my boyfriend, loser? Are you an ex who can''t let go? ''Cause if so, sweetie, you''re just going to have to face up to the fact that he isn''t interested in you anymore."

    Anger spiked, but she beat it down with a stick. She''s just an idiot who has no idea what she''s talking about. Besides, it''s not like you have to put up with her for long. Z goes through girls like I go through pancakes. Be nice to the future ex, there are only two years left until you are eighteen and can openly go after him. she told herself. She had confessed to Zane, three years ago, but he had rejected her. However the way he had rejected her sounded exactly like a confession. After a few tests, she finally confirmed it. He loved her, he just didn''t know it. She even confirmed it with Uncle Chase and he''d agreed with her, showing her that it wasn''t just a figment of her imagination. She decided to wait until she was eighteen for him to realize it on his own. If he still had no clue, then she was going to go after him, and he wouldn''t be able treat her as a child. But until then, she was still his childhood friend who he saw as a sister.

    "You''re misunderstanding. I''m his childhood friend and roommate. I''m on a trip to Seattle right now, and something''s come up, so I might be coming back earlier than I planned. I just wanted to tell him that."

    "Well, you''ve told me, so I''ll tell him."

    NO! Aurelie almost yelled. She had to tell him what had happened.

    But before she was forced to make some excuse to have the idiotic girl give the phone to its owner, she heard a voice in the background growl "What are you doing on my phone?" Relief shot through her.

    Nasally voice tried to offer an explanation, but Zane obviously wasn''t listening to her. Aurelie could practically see him stalk across the room and snatch the phone from his new girlfriend. For, though the new girl was unaware, Zane didn''t like it when people poked his nose into his business. He had an iron wall around his heart, one that even she couldn''t get through at times, despite having have had known him for thirteen years.

    "Yes?" he said into the phone. Zane was always saying as little as he could while getting the point across.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    "Hey, Z, we have a problem." Aurelie answered, in a soft voice.

    "Job?"

    "Where''s the girlfriend?" Aurelie asked, reluctant to have a conversation this sensitive in front of a normal person.

    "Gone." was the only answer she got, but it was good enough for her, so she answered his question.

    "No, the job went fine, but I was kidnapped afterwards."

    There was a silence that she knew meant shock, as well as a bit of rage. Zane was more overprotective than a mama bear. Well, she didn''t exactly mind that. It was nice to know you were cared for. But she would have to slightly defuse the angry bomb on the other end of the phone.

    "Don''t worry, they were the world''s worst kidnappers. Devout non-believers of brain over brawn. Pool all their intelligence together, and a T. Rex could still outsmart them. Seriously, they didn''t even search me for weapons. Anyways, I decided to get info on who they worked for, but the two I questioned didn''t know anything. But the elusive head is coming in around forty minutes, forty-five minutes. Should I stay and get a look, or get out of dodge?"

    "Leave."

    "Think, Z. Kidnapping me means wanting me alive, and not many people want that. Also, they had a picture. They might have a name too. This means that both you and Uncle Chase could get involved."

    "Are you seriously expecting me to buy that? Everything you can do, I can too. I may not be an active assassin like you right now, but I''m not rusty. I remember my training. And Uncle Chase will be fine if both of us protect him. We can search for your secret admirer from here, Relle. Don''t do something stupid and get back now."

    "Okay, okay. You know things are serious when you actually speak in complete sentences. I''ll catch the first plane back to New York. See you later, Z." She had actually expected his answer, his need to keep her safe would undoubtedly have made him tell her to get out of a dangerous situation. The actual reason for the call had been to touch base and just hear his voice and make sure he was safe as well, as there was a possibility that he had been targeted, too.

    She ended the call and crept to the edge of the roof. She sat there for a few minutes, then nodded to herself. She''d memorized their patrol schedules and determined a way to get through it. Many ways, actually. Their ''patrol'' was completely disjointed, with every man just doing their own thing. Like she''d told Zane, they were total idiots. She quickly determined the best path through and started to move. She moved, climbing down one of the many vines covering the warehouse to the ground and quickly went through the path that she''d made in her mind.

    Unfortunately, the best path was the best path because there was no interaction with the guards. As such, she had no idea that the second she moved, a car pulled into the abandoned warehouse district, directly in the middle of her best path. Noticing the car, the goons'' boss called his goons to go and gather at the car. So, when Aurelie was at the area where the abandoned warehouses and abandoned apartments merged, she received a rather large shock at seeing her four live kidnappers and a thin faced man with a body that was skinnier than a stick (who''d brought two more muscle bound men to the scene) standing there. They were just as shocked to see her as she was to see them. The first to get over their shock were the new arrivals'' bodyguards. They obviously knew what Aurelie was capable of, and deemed her a deadly threat. They opened fire immediately.

 What Goes Up Must Come Down

    Guns were aimedher way, so Aurelie was the next to wake up. She immediately jumped to safety behind a warehouse, but not before a bullet grazed her side. She cursed. The bad guys were supposed to have worse aim than this! This was unfair, if the people shooting at her were good shots (well, it was debateable, but she didn''t want to have to think of all that now), then she should at least get Matrix-style bullet dodging skills. She didn''t have Matrix style bullet dodging skills, though, so she had to make do with the next best options: run faster than the wind, or return fire.

    Returning fire would just hold her up here, and she had no idea if they had reinforcements waiting. So returning fire was a bad idea. Running it was. Aurelie peeked her head out the side of the warehouse she was hiding behind. A hail of bullets immediately peppered the wall where her head had been, but she''d already seen all that she''d needed to see, so her head was safely out of the way. Her suspicions were correct. The buildings were in the direction of the town, and they were all more or less the same height. If she could get on the roof of one building, then she could jump from roof to roof until she reached other people. Get to a populated area and you''re home free, she thought to herself. Quietly she started to move towards the buildings. One of them had a fire escape. If she got to that one, then things would be easier.

    But she had to move fast. Her quick peek at the buildings had also showed her that the bodyguards were inching closer to her ''hiding spot''.

    Somehow, she made quick runs from warehouse to warehouse without being seen, before finally reaching the rusty fire escape. The entire area was silent and tense. Her four remaining kidnappers had scattered at the first round of gunfire, and the other guy had gotten in his car and was driven a safe distance off. It was just her and the other two guys. This was possibly the most dangerous part of her plan though. There was no way she could go up the fire escape without the other two noticing, and she was pretty much a sitting duck while running on the rooftops, though they wouldn''t be able to get a good shot at her, because they would have to run after her too.

    Taking a deep breath, she ran up the stairs. She saw the body guards turn towards the sound and see her, they opened fire the next second, and there were sparks as the bullets hit the rusted metal. She ignored them and ran up faster, trying to keep as much metal railing as possible between her and her body. After a few seconds that lasted an eternity, she was at the top of a three story building. After taking a quick look around she decided that there was really only one building that was safe enough to jump onto, although the roof of that building was a foot higher than the roof of the building that she was currently on. She ran and once again placed a foot against the wall and pushed off. She grabbed the edge of the roof and hauled herself up.

    A quick glance backwards showed that the her pursuers were already on the roof of the building she used to be on. They saw her and started to run towards the building she was currently on. She took another look around and chose another building to get onto. And so it went. Aurelie continually jumped to a roof that was higher than the one that she was on, so that the men behind her couldn''t stop and aim at her.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    As the adrenaline rush gradually died down, she started to mutter curses at Phil and Carter under her breath. Phil and Carter were two imaginary angels that she cursed at whenever anything went wrong. She couldn''t curse the heavens, due to the fact that she was still trying to get into them somehow (she steadfastly ignored the fact that cursing at angels in heaven wasn''t much of an improvement on cursing the heavens themselves). So instead she imagined that there were two fat, middle-aged, balding men who were constantly looking down at her from heaven. And every time that she made a plan or an attempt to do something important, they would ruin it.One would go, ''Hey look, she''s trying something.'' then the other would come up with a way to ruin it, and they would both chortle gleefully when their machinations lead to a disaster on her part.

    Eventually she made it to the city. The street beneath her wasn''t bustling, but it wasn''t deserted either. She just needed to jump to one more roof. The problem was which one to jump to. There was one that was higher, but it took her away from the city, but the one that would take her to the city was at the same level as this roof, and the gap between the two buildings was rather large. By continuously jumping up, she was currently on an eight story building. She gritted her teeth, and made a decision. The chase had already been going on for an hour. Her body was aching, and the strap of her messenger bag was like a rock on her shoulder, and her flesh wounds from the bullets burned. The men behind her seemed to be tireless, she was definitely going to lose this battle of stamina. She wasn''t going to make this drag it on further, or she could become too tired to continue. It was time to end this. She started to run in the direction of the building that was on the level that she was on. After she made the jump, she would climb down to street level and disappear.

    Unfortunately, she didn''t make the jump. The second she reached the edge of the roof, she jumped. And, at the moment her feet left the ground, a bullet hit her arm, passing through cleanly. If she was on solid ground it wouldn''t have been a problem, she would''ve maybe just have stumbled, but kept going. But she was in air. So when the bullet hit her, she was flipped over and all her forward momentum was dispersed. With a quick, sharp scream, she dropped into the space between the buildings.

    Aurelie could feel the wind roaring past her. Her hair whipped around her face like a fire. She felt... empty. No terror, just a sort of sadness. She''d had plenty of time to come to terms with her own death. When one kills, they must prepare to be killed in turn. She only had two regrets, not taking one of those jerks with her, and for leaving Zane alone now that she was dead. Well, going to die. And he wouldn''t exactly be completely alone. There was Uncle Chase, of course. Though he wasn''t anyone''s uncle, he had a soft side that would ensure that he''d take care of one of his two friends when she was gone, even though he too would grieve. Even though she wanted to go and tell both of them that it would be okay and that they shouldn''t be sad, she was falling off of a building at the moment and therefore all she could really do now was wait to die.

    What she didn''t know, though, was that as she fell a hole opened up beneath her. At first it was tiny, the size of a pinhole. But it steadily grew larger and larger, until it filled the alleyway. If one was to look at it from above, they would see a huge expanse of the darkest and purest black opening up. The strangest thing about the hole, though, was that you could only see it by looking down at it. In other words, it was circle floating in midair. And Aurelie fell into it. The second after she passed through it, the hole closed swiftly, and when her pursuers came to the gap between the buildings, both Aurelie and the mysterious hole were gone, without even the slightest trace left.

 Insanity

    Sometime during the fall, Aurelie had closed her eyes, and so she wasn''t aware at first that she had fallen into one-dimensional hole that opened up beneath her while she was falling off an eight story building. The only sign that she had entered the hole was that there was no more wind.

    At first Aurelie thought that she had hit the ground, but after waiting a while without feeling pain, she tentatively opened her eyes. And then closed them again, rubbed them, and opened them again. No change. Well, no change that she could tell, as she could see nothing. Before her was a pure black expanse. At first she thought that she had gone blind due to impact, but as she still felt no pain, she decided she was just in a really dark place. She had an ambiguous feeling about that. It meant that she could see, but Heaven was supposed to be a place full of light.She hoped she wasn''t in the other place, though it would make sense if she was.

    As the hole had closed, she had no idea how she had got here. She did a quick check up of herself. Since she couldn''t see, she had to focus on what she felt. The two things that immediately stood out were that her arm and side were... weird. Both had been shot, but they sometimes they flared up and the pain was as bad as it had been the moment she''d gotten shot. Then they died down to the point that it was as though they were completely healed. Sometimes they moved around the pain gradient in sync, other times out of sync. It was... odd, to say the least.

    Deciding she would sort out the wounds that had no idea whether they wanted to hurt or not later, she felt around a bit deeper. This time her search yielded results that suggested that she was floating. She couldn''t feel anything solid around her. Her feet weren''t on the ground, neither was her sides, stomach, back, or even her head. She could no longer feel the weight of her bag''s strap on her shoulder, though she did realize that it was floating around her shoulder when she started to flail.

    Deciding to get back to this revolt against physics after she sorted out her injuries, she went back to examining herself. It was around this time that she discovered that she was no longer breathing. Well, it was more like she had no need to. Her body was in some kind of stasis, unchanging. This time, she finally freaked out. ''What''s happening? Where am I? How did I get here? Did I die? Someone help me!! Zane!!'' This continued for an undeterminable amount of time, but then she snapped out of it.

    And then light appeared from underneath her. ''Huh?'' Curious, Aurelie attempted to turn and look. But then her foot went through the source of light. A strong force yanked her out of the black expanse. Aurelie stared up at the place she''d just come from. What the..? A huge hole, which was easily as wide as the Empire State Building was tall, was open in the sky above her. Before her very astonished eyes, the hole quickly shrank and disappeared in the blink of an eye. ''You have got to be kidding me. What is going on? Was I just in that hole thingy? How did I get in there? Where was that?'' Finally, she came to a conclusion. ''Great. I''ve gone insane.''

    It was around this time that her shell-shocked and possibly insane mind realized she was falling. Again.

    This time, the fall was from a much higher place, and there was an entire forest in between her and the earth. Fortunately, the trees would break her fall. Unfortunately, trees aren''t like cushions. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Namely, they''re very hard.

    Forest near Lejus Village, Sorainella

    Aurelie lay at on the forest floor, groaning. She was pretty badly injured. Her skin was developing multiple bruises in various places, and she was covered in cuts, ranging in intensity from the size of a paper cut to a huge gash. She also had multiple splinters and a bruised rib. Nothing broken, though, so that was a bonus. She was still alive, too, despite being insane. Thank god for the little things. She lay there groaning for a while until she realized that she could be in danger of bleeding to death, after which she tentatively got up, realized that she had no idea where to go, and stood there organizing her thoughts. She quickly made a checklist in her head.

    <ol>

    <li> Find water source to clean wounds in.</li>

    <li> Find shelter along water source and a food source nearby.</li>

    <li> Heal, and then see where the heck you are.</li>

    </ol>

    With these three goals in mind, Aurelie listened for the sound of running water. She was using city girl logic, which dictated that everything you wanted was nearby, even when you had fallen out of a gigantic hole in the sky and into the middle of a forest that most definitely did not exist in Seattle.

    Amazingly, city girl logic worked in this case. Within seconds, Aurelie''s ears made out the faint sound of running water. She immediately rushed towards it, and as she got closer she realized that it wasn''t the sound of a river she was hearing, it was a waterfall! She entered a small clearing, and discovered that her ears hadn''t deceived her, there was a decently sized waterfall in the clearing, as well as a small pool that the waterfall emptied into. It was from this pool that a river ran.

    Aurelie gave a relieved grin and immediately started see to her wounds. She gently washed the cuts, and applied a salve that was in her bag (which had managed to follow her on the way down). She then covered the salve with bandages, which were also in her bag. She carefully plucked out the splinters, and put a band aid on them.

    When she''d finished, she examined her reflection. Her hair was a mess, with leaves and twigs in it. Her favorite emerald green tee was ripped in many places and smeared with blood. Her jeans were fine apart from a few specks of blood, though, and her combat boots only had a few scratches. If she had to comment on her appearance, she would say that if anyone saw her at the moment they would probably shoot her in fright. She plucked the leaves and twigs out of her hair, but that was the best she could do, considering the fact that she didn''t have a comb on her, and she didn''t have a change of clothes either, so she couldn''t wash her clothes. She might be able to face down gunfire without panicking, but no way was she going to be naked in... wherever she was.

    Then, she seemed to think of something. With a panicked expression on her face she quickly grabbed at the collar of her shirt and pulled out a leather strap, tugging on it until the necklace that she''d been wearing under her clothes came into view. With trembling hands, she quickly examined the pendant. It was a smooth oval of obsidian, surrounded by an intricate silver wire which attached the stone to the leather strap. Making sure that the pendant didn''t have a single scratch on it, she let out a sigh of relief. The necklace was a present that she had gotten from Zane for her fifth birthday. She''d never once took it off, and it had remained around her neck for eleven years, unless the strap snapped, in which case Zane always bought her a new one. The necklace was, as far as Aurelie was concerned, the most important thing that she owned.

 Hallucination

    With the reassurance that her necklace was okay, Aurelie started to consider the problem of her location. The first problem was that she couldn''t recognize any of the trees. While it was true that she hadn''t seen many trees in real life until this point, she had read plenty of books on nature and knew how common trees such as oak trees and beech trees looked. She also knew of other, less common trees too. She''d seen them in books. Aurelie had three amazing characteristics. One was a photographic memory. All she had to do was see, hear, taste, smell or feel something once and she would remember it forever. She also had perfect control over her body. Most people with photographic memories could remember things, but couldn''t do them. If they saw someone boxing, they would remember how to box, but wouldn''t be able to get their body to move how they wanted it to. Aurelie didn''t have this problem. Of course, she had needed to train herself for years to get to that point. Her third ability was her brainpower. Her brain usually worked like a computer. Once, when she was being taught math, all they had needed to do was teach her addition. She figured out subtraction, multiplication, and division on her own.

    She''d gotten an aerial view of the forest while falling , and it was huge. She couldn''t think of a single place on earth where a forest as large as this one existed, other than the Amazon Rainforest. But the Amazon was a rainforest, and was filled with humidity and bugs and things like that. There were no bugs that she could see and instead of humidity, there was a sort of prickly feeling in the air. She shifted uncomfortably. The prickliness had always been there, of course, but she''d always had something else to focus on. Now that she consciously paid attention to it, it was almost like it had gotten worse. If she had to describe how she currently felt, she would say that it was as though she had gotten struck by lightning in the middle of being hit by a bus.

    Maybe she could narrow down the location by trying to remember the place on earth that was struck by lightning most often. The only place to come to mind was the Table Top Mountain, and that didn''t have a forest on it. So then where....?

    ''Oh yeah.'' She thought to herself. ''I''m insane. Forgot about that. This place is probably a hallucination.'' Just then a pang of pain came from her rib. ''Ow! Can you feel pain in hallucinations? Because if you can, then they really suck. Oh well, seeing as I have no idea how to wake up, I might as well play along with my sadly deluded brain and explore the place that I have dreamed up of.''

    With that sorted out, Aurelie first decided to see what supplies she had on hand and what she needed to get before she went exploring. Emptying her bag, she quickly inventoried.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

    Food

    Bag of Cheetos, not going to fill her up

    *Food needed.

    Drinks

    Next to a waterfall, should be taken care of as long as she didn''t get lost

    Weapons

    Three guns, two from her ill-fated kidnappers and one she''d had all along, all fully loaded with a total of eighteen bullets (Luckily, not a single one went off safety and shot her while the tree branches played ping pong with her helplessly descending body)

    Eight throwing knives

    Two combat knives

    Two daggers

    Miscellaneous

    Cell phone, miraculously unbroken, but with no signal

    Solar panel charger, also unbroken and in full working order

    Headphones, also unbroken and in full working order

    A green hoodie, which she''d had the foresight to wrap her phone, headphones, and charger in, which provided extra padding and was the reason why they were unbroken

    Aurelie put on the hoodie and pulled up the hood in order to hide her tattered and blood covered shirt and face from view, then leaned back and snacked on the Cheetos as she considered what to do now. ''For starters,'' a voice in her head said snarkily, ''you could not eat the only food you have.''

    ''Shut up, don''t be logical, you''re insane.'' She told the voice, while pulling out another Cheeto and putting it in her mouth. The Cheetos hadn''t been as lucky as her phone and charger, and many of them had become dust, but that didn''t stop the survivors from being delicious. ''Okay, find food first, then do whatever is needed with living arrangements. Okay, I need to hunt, I guess. Never done it before, but killing an animal can''t be all that different from killing a person, and the cooking part could be done with a spit, like in the movies.''

    With that decided, Aurelie pulled her gun out from where she''d tucked it into her jeans'' waistband and took it off safety, and took one of her combat knives out of it''s arm sheath. She wasn''t going to take any chances. She''d often heard that if you die in a dream, then you die in real life, and since a hallucination was pretty much just a dream that you saw while awake (in her opinion, though this was patently untrue), she was going to be careful. Not to mention that she was going hunting and therefore needed a gun. Carefully, she set off, using the combat knife in her left hand to mark her path on the trees.

 The Gift From Heaven

    An hour later, she was thoroughly and completely lost. She''d spotted a bird, and attempted to shoot at it. But, just as she took aim, a snake leapt out of from behind her and tried to sink it''s fangs into her. She used her knife to fight it, but it still took her the better part of twenty minutes to kill the monster and a few of her injuries had reopened. She was now also sporting new gashes and a long history with concussions told her that she now had another one, although this one was slight.

    She looked down at the dead animal at her feet. She was fairly certain that this was a new species, despite not having been exposed to snakes very often. This was because the creature was longer than she was tall (even if you doubled her height), and wide enough that it would take three fully grown men working together to hug it (though why three fully grown men would be hugging a gigantic snake, she didn''t really know. Sumo wrestling practice, maybe?).

    She''d discovered during the fight that the snake had scales as tough as steel and it''s body crushed a tree into tiny splinters at one point in time during the tussle. She''d eventually ended up stabbing it in the eye to kill it, but she''d still ended up having no idea where she was, as the snake had body slammed her about thirty feet away from the last tree that she had marked, making her lose her bearings and fracture a few ribs in the process. So she ended up with food, but no water or shelter. One rabbit in the hand is better than two in the bush situation, though, in this case, she''d had two rabbits in her hand and the third rabbit in the bush was vital to her survival, so she couldn''t just ditch it, but still.

    She couldn''t help but think that if Zane were here then this wouldn''t have happened. He would''ve been able to shoot the bird in the sky while she fought off the snake, then come and helped her when it had died, and they wouldn''t have gotten lost. They were a great team. She was an expert at knives, while he specialized in guns. The only reason she kept a gun on her in the first place was because he''d persuaded her to learn how to use it, then told her that extra self-defense never hurt anyone and made her carry one around. But enough moping and wishing, she had to get moving. While it was true that lost people should stay in one place, there was no one who would search for her here. She refused to be lost and miserable here any longer.

    Then a word she herself had just used penetrated. Miserable. Delusions and hallucinations were supposed to be happy (not true), so if this were really a delusion, then she should be happy. She wasn''t happy. Maybe because she hadn''t exercised her powers as master of this dimension yet. She closed her eyes and Zane''s appearance formed in her mind. Jade green eyes and inky black hair. Serious expression, with an icy aura. A strong, tall, lean body. He''s here, he''s here, he''s here, he''s here. She chanted in her mind over and over. Then she opened her eyes. He wasn''t there. ''Okay, maybe this isn''t just a delusion.¡¯ She thought to herself. ¡®So, if it isn''t a delusion, then where is this?''This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    She thought of everything that had happened, trying to find some explanation that somewhat resembled a logical explanation. Maybe someone had perfected a teleportation device and tested it out and it happened to zap her while she fell, or something like that. The prickly feeling against her skin that she continuously felt was the after effect of the blast, and the black space was just what she saw as her particles zoomed through the air. Yeah, that''s what happened. She looked down at her prey. She made an explanation for that as well: she had been lucky enough to discover a brand new species. She decided to end the debate once and for all. ''Hey, someone up in Heaven who knows what''s going on, send me a sign that I''m not insane, please, and I will be eternally grateful.''

    She wasn''t a Christian, and her mentality towards God was pretty much just a it-would-be -nice-if-he-existed-but-not-too-much-of-a-problem-if-he-didn''t sort of thing, so she didn''t actually think that anything would happen and was preparing to leave. But just as she looked down to figure out a way to move the ginormous serpent, she heard a rustle coming from her left.

    A boy, around her age, burst out of the bushes and ran, after giving a quick glance behind him. In truth, the best way to describe him was by using the words pale and colorless. He had skin the color of porcelain and pale silver hair. His eyes were a shade of crimson that she''d never seen before. She tried to figure out his nationality, but came up short. He was wearing a white shirt and black vest, coupled with black pants. The material seemed to be both tough and flexible, though she couldn''t recognize it or think of what it was. Though she found this strange, all that she could really think, the one thing that her mind kept circling back to, were the words: is this the sign?

    Then three things happened simultaneously. The guy noticed her, and started to make frantic gestures for her to move and get out of the way. The ground beneath her began to rumble and shake, and her instincts lit up like a firecracker, making adrenaline pump through her and everything seemed to slow down. A few seconds later, something else flew out of the same bushes that the boy had just run out from. Something big, something mean, and something that most definitely did not belong in a forest.

    ''Okay, the ones in charge of making and sending me the sign were definitely Phil and Carter. Just what I needed, a rhino. Thanks a bunch, you guys.''

 Finding a Goal

    The rhinoceros, like the snake, did not look like it was supposed to. It was blood red, with a crystalline armor covering its body that made it look beautiful, like a dazzling ruby. A very angry dazzling ruby with a rather sharp and pointy looking horn that was placed in the perfect position to gut her.

    Her mind was reeling, but that didn''t stop her from instinctively raising her hand, which still held her gun somehow, and taking aim. Unlike the agile snake, the strange, mutated rhino was charging in a straight line, so Zane''s level of gunslinging skill was not needed to shoot it in the eye.

    She quickly fired off a shot, then moved to the side and out of the rhino''s way. The bullet went straight through it''s eye and into it''s brain, instantly killing it. The rhino''s forward momentum carried it forward for another few feet before it fell sideways onto it''s massive flank. A huge cloud of dust billowed out from where it landed, and a small crater had formed under it''s body.

    Aurelie sat on the ground, gasping for air. She felt like someone had dunked her in a pit of ice water. Shock filled her. One new mutated never before seen animal she could somewhat accept, but two was a bit too much, even for her. ''What was that? What just happened? Is this real? Was that really the sign? Wait, I don''t want to be insane, so my mind could have sent me a sign, just to appease me. No, but then Z would have appeared when I wanted him to. Heavens knows that I wanted Z to come way more than I wanted this guy to. So, I''m not insane, I guess. Well, I was never imaginative enough to dream up of this place to begin with.'' (She also thought that she was acting a lot like Gollum, recently, by arguing with herself, but decided that that didn''t affect the current circumstances and ignored it.)

    A twig snapping broke her out of her reverie, and she immediately pointed her gun at the boy who the rhino was chasing, who had been quietly walking towards her. He''d never seen a gun before, but knowing what she''d done to the Red Crystal Rhino with it, he immediately jumped back. She hadn''t noticed him initially coming towards her because he was moving nearer to her at an angle that made it so that the corner of her hoodie blocked her vision. She considered pulling the hood down, but that would expose her tangled hair and bruised face. Not only was she afraid that he''d leave before giving her any information as to what was happening and run in fright upon seeing her demonic appearance, her pride as a woman refused to let a cute boy''s first impression of her be as a monster. (She may be in love with Zane, but that didn''t mean she couldn''t find other boys attractive.)

    Thinking, Aurelie furrowed her brows, though her gun stayed level with his chest. He was the first person she''d seen since she''d come here. Now that she was calmer, she was considering what had just happened. As for the boy, upon seeing that Aurelie wasn''t going to be unreasonable and shoot him without a cause, he relaxed slightly, though he was wary of the gun which was still pointed at him. He knew that the person before him couldn''t be someone normal. Her clothes were strange, and he''d never seen her weapon before. In addition, a Metallic Snake lay at her feet, obviously killed by her. Both the Metallic Snake and Red Crystal Rhino had strength that greatly surpassed his own, and both had been killed by her. Ergo, she was stronger than him.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    The two stayed like this for a while, each eyeing the other (though the boy couldn''t really see Aurelie so he was eyeing her clothes more than he was eyeing her). Then, the boy''s stomach let out a rather noticeable grumble, which, as you may guess, ended their standoff. He let out an embarrassed smile, while she looked at the two animals. Both had been killed by her, but they were huge, and there was no way she could eat both even if she knew how to cook, which she didn''t.

    "Okay, since the rhino thingy was chasing you and that was the only reason I met it, I''ll give it to you. But in exchange, you have to teach me how to cook this snake."

    "What? What did you say?"

    It was around this time that both of them realized that something was a bit off.

    The boy had no idea that there was even some place in this world which spoke another language. Everyone that he''d met spoke Sorainellese, though a few people did have slight accents. As such, his interest towards the person in front of him grew.

    Aurelie, on the other hand, was panicking. ''Where am I?'' She wondered. After she''d decided to ignore the prickly feeling she had decided that she was in the Amazon Rainforest. When she saw that the boy didn''t look as though he hailed from South America, she decided that he was a tourist.

    But that language he spoke... she''d never heard anything like it. It was so musical and each word just flowed into the other, to the point that she almost couldn''t even make out the individual words that he spoke. She would''ve thought that he was singing, but no one would start to sing with a gun level with their heart. Unless singing when a red-headed teenage girl pointed a weapon at you was part of this country''s customs... but, no, that was too ridiculous. This was undoubtedly a language. One she didn''t know.

    While it was true that she didn''t know every language in the world, when she combined the unknown language with the mutated animals, strange trees, and her overall weird experience after she fell off the roof, an uneasy feeling that had been steadily growing, and just as steadily ignored, was brought to the limelight.

    She''d read plenty of books in which the main character was transported to another world for whatever reason. The period that writers added, the part where the character had no idea that they were in a different world and tried to reason through it had always annoyed her and she''d always called them stupid, but she was pretty surprised at how hard it was to disconnect from her own world when the experience happened to her.

    Though she had strongly denied the possibility of being in another world until now, Aurelie was surprisingly blas¨¦ about it after she consciously accepted it. She''d had an idea that she may not be on Earth anymore, and finally acknowledging made her feel as though a load had been taken off her shoulders. She hadn''t really liked her world all that much, though whether this world was different remained to be seen. Really, the only reason she''d stayed in that world was because of... Zane. She sat straight up as though a bolt of electricity went through her. She couldn''t stay here, separated from him and Uncle Chase, she had to go back. And to go back she needed to learn their language.

 Test of Strength

    ''That shouldn''t be too much of a problem .'' she thought to herself. Aurelie''s photographic memory, made it so that languages, to her, were fairly easy to learn. The longest she''d ever needed to learn one from scratch was a week. There was no reason why this language would be any different. Other than the fact that they had no common language between that he could use to teach her. And they had no way of communicating. And that he was probably going to be curious as to who she was, where she came from, and what she was doing. Plus she was a pretty suspicious character and he was as likely to run screaming as he was to teach her his language. Yeah, this was going to be hard.

    In any case, how was she even supposed to communicate to him that she needed to learn his language? Suddenly, she remembered what had happened right before the rhino had charged out of the bushes. He had motioned for her to get away. In other words, he had used sign language. Thank the gods, sign language was truly a universal language. She frowned, thinking about how she was going to do this.

    Finally, she stood up and looked at the boy. Surprised by the sudden motion, the boy jumped a bit and looked at her curiously. Aurelie lifted both hands and made a show of putting the gun on safety before carefully tucking the weapon into the waistband of her jeans. While doing this, she also imperceptibly shook her left arm, loosening the combat knife in her left arm sheath. If she shook the sheath again, one of her two combat knives, which was placed within it, would come down her sleeve and fall into her hand. (The other combat knife was in her right arm sheath.) Just because she needed him as a teacher didn''t mean that she trusted him yet.

    With her hands free, she started to make the motions that she had thought about just now. First she pointed to her ear, then tilted her head and made a confused face at him. Then she pointed at him, then acted as though she were a student learning something, then pointed at herself, then clasped her hands together. While doing this, she also slowly said in English, "I... have... no... idea... what... you... are... saying... teach... me... your... language... please..."

    Taken out of context, her movements looked really weird and crazy. Luckily, the boy had context, and managed to piece together her meaning. Giving her a broad grin, the boy nodded vigorously. Then he pointed to himself and slowly said "Farn", which Aurelie correctly took to be his name. She nodded, then pointed to herself, saying "Aurelie." The boy nodded again, giving indication of his understanding. Aurelie then knelt back on the ground, and, under Farn''s curious gaze, cleared away some leaves and grass before digging a little pit, and then a winding squiggly line coming out of the pit. Opposite the squiggly lines, she made some hand motions as though something were falling into the pit. Farn looked confused for a while, before exclaiming, "Oh, that''s water! You''re talking about the waterfall!"

    "Wadel? Wadelpar?" Aurelie asked, looking at him. She tried to say the only two words she could make out, but could tell that she had mangled them.

    He shook his head, correcting her by repeating the words and giving her hand motions. First, he pulled out a water skin and let a little bit of the liquid spill onto his hand before repeating the word water. Then he made the same motions that she did for the waterfall and said "Waterfall."

    She nodded. Truthfully, she didn''t need him to repeat the words, as she had his previous exclamation in her memory and could use that to perfect her pronunciation, but the motions helped her understand which word meant what.

    After ensuring that she''d understood, Farn made a come on gesture and started to lead her away from their current location, but Aurelie grabbed his arm. Looking at her quizzically, Farn realized that she was pointing to the two dead animals that he''d forgotten in his excitement of finding out that he would be able to spend more time with the strange person. He had only ever lived in his small village, which, while not isolated from the rest of the world, was very far removed due to the forest. He thirsted for knowledge of what lay behind the trees. Whenever adventurers visited, he would always sit near and listen to amazing stories of battles and watched them show off their strength. He was under the (mistaken) impression that Aurelie would be able to tell him some more about the elusive outside world. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    He quickly calculated the distances in his head, then he went over to the rhino and slung it around his shoulders. Then he grabbed the snake by it''s tail (the only body part that he could grab, considering everywhere else was too thick) and dragged it behind him. Aurelie stared with astonishment, her gaze travelling between the crater on the forest floor, to the rhino that lay on Farn''s shoulders like a sack of potatoes, and then to the twelve foot snake he dragged behind him. Yep, this was without a doubt another world. Nobody on Earth could do that, except maybe bodybuilders and that was a large maybe, and Farn didn''t have huge bulked up muscles. Not to say that he didn''t have muscles, but they were more towards the lean side.

    Farn, realizing that she wasn''t following him, turned towards Aurelie and jerked his head in the direction he was going before continuing on his path. Aurelie stumbled after him.

    ~~~~~~~

    Before long, they reached to the waterfall. Seeing her bag where she''d left it, Aurelie ran to it and quickly checked to ensure that nothing was missing, especially the guns. She made sure to keep the medicine kits and her phone from of his attention, though. There was no way to know how advanced this world''s technology was, and she wasn''t about to bring more attention to herself by showing her possibly incredibly advanced tech. She''d already made a mistake by showing off her gun''s firepower, though, admittedly, she hadn''t realized that this wasn''t her own world at that point in time and hadn''t known to hide the gun. Well, there was no use worrying about the past now. What was done was done.

    While Aurelie fussed over her meager belongings, Farn put down rhino, and started to pull the snake into the clearing surrounding the lake. Finishing that, he went to Aurelie and made a ''wait'' symbol while saying the word at the same time. Nodding, Aurelie repeated it, managing not to mess it up. Despite that, it still came out heavily accented and rather harsh, nothing like how musical it sounded when spoken by Farn. Well, there really was nothing she could do about that, an accent was an accent was an accent. She actually liked her accent, it reminded her that she was not from this world and that she needed to hurry in order to see the one she loved.

    Aurelie watched Farn run off into the woods, then got up and walked towards the two animals that lay in the clearing with her. She went up to the snake first and stared down at it''s tail. She reached down and grabbed it and had to struggle to lift it up. It was heavy and she almost dropped it several times, and her arm muscles protested the exertion vigorously. She was amazed that Farn could actually lift the tail, let alone drag the entire snake behind him. She tried pulling on the snake herself, but her cracked ribs emitted so much pain it was a struggle not to scream, and she could never make the snake budge an inch.

    After multiple failed attempts, she gave up on the snake and moved towards the rhino. She went around to one leg and tugged at it. No movement. She pulled harder. Still no movement. She ignored her protesting ribs and pulled at the one of the rhino''s front legs with all her might, placing the limb on her shoulder, which in itself made her tired as the rhino was heavier than the snake, and putting her back into the effort. Absolutely no movement from the rhino. Aurelie was hard pressed not to scream, but her ribs were threatening to mutiny and she had to stop and catch her breath.

    And so she went, back and forth between the two animals, trying to budge them. She tried multiple different stances and used every muscle in her body when she pulled at them, but she invariably failed every single time. Finally, she got too frustrated and was in too much pain to continue. She sat down by the river and splashed water on her face, pulling down her hood to do so. She considered taking the hoodie off, but was sure that she would throw up from the pain of doing so, and instead rolled up her sleeves and gingerly laid down. Breathing hurt at first, but after about ten minutes of recuperation the pain subsided a bit. Of course, she wasn''t fully healed, but she could at least move around a bit, though pain shot through her at every movement she made.

 Surprise and Curiosity

    About half an hour after he had left, Farn returned with a bundle of firewood, which he had put into a large cauldron, and a flaming torch. Smiling, Aurelie sat up and waved at him. He promptly dropped everything that he was carrying, the lit torch beginning a small fire in the grass. Aurelie immediately lunged forward and picked up the torch before stomping out the flames on the ground. Gasping from a mixture of pain, anger, and shock, Aurelie glared at Farn and yelled, "What were you thinking! Were you trying to start a forest fire!?"

    But then she looked at his face. Farn was staring at her, his eyes wide and mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Finally he shouted a word in his language, one that she, of course, did not understand. But what she did understand were the emotions that flew across his face. Shock, fear, and intimidation, as well as a sort of hero worship. Her glare changing into frown, Aurelie gave a jerk of her shoulders and spread her hands in a what? motion. Shaking his head, Farn looked at her carefully, a thoughtful frown on his face.

    Finally he seemed to have come to a conclusion about something and relaxed, his expression returning to his previous amicable one. He smiled and shook his head at Aurelie''s confusion as if to say, It''s nothing, then quickly cleared a small area of the clearing of grass, gathered the firewood he had dropped previously and moved it to the circle of dirt he had recently made. Afterwards he laid a circle of small stones from the river bank around the area he had cleared, took the torch back from the still frowning Aurelie, and set the wood on fire, forming a small bonfire above which he hung the cauldron after taking a few spices that he had put into it at his house out and filling it with water.

    He then took out a knife. Aurelie tensed slightly, but Farn was moving towards the animals. He went to the snake she had killed and began to hack at it. Aurelie was about to tell him that it was pointless, her mind replaying the sound of metal hitting metal when she had slashed at the snake with her knives during her battle with the beast. But, under her astonished gaze, a spurt of blood came out of the snake from where Farn had cut it, though there was still a loud sound from it. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    While it was true that the monster snake''s defense had dropped by a lot after it''s death, there was no way Aurelie could have cut it the same way Farn did. Combined with the way he could easily carry the two creatures while she couldn''t even budge their body parts told her that he was strong. As in, Superman level strong. No way could an ordinary person lift those creatures. Then a thought struck her. He easily revealed his strength to her, and looked as though it was natural to have this strength. She was in another world. Maybe it was natural to have this strength. Maybe she was the weakest person here. This boded very badly for her. She would immediately stand out if that were the case, and it would also become incredibly hard to survive long enough to find a way back to her own world and to Zane''s side. She would have to find a way to subtly bring up the topic without alerting him to the fact that she wasn''t as strong as he was.

    Quietly, she watched as Farn skinned the snake, discarded the entrails, washed off the blood, and cut the meat into slabs before putting them into the cauldron. He was obviously making a snake stew. While waiting for the food to finish cooking, Farn and Aurelie sat beside the fire, and he began to teach her his language, while occasionally throwing in some of the spices and herbs that he had brought with him into the stew and stirring it from time to time. She learned quite a few basic words by the time the broth was ready to be eaten. The sun had already set during the course of their conversation/lesson, and this made it rather hard to ignore the growling of Farn''s stomach, as well as that of Aurelie''s.

    Afterall, the last thing that she had eaten was a breakfast, albeit a rather sumptuous one, in the hotel she was staying at during her ''business'' trip to Seattle. Afterwards, she had gone out to do her job, and then got kidnapped while she was walking to a quaint cafe to have lunch, and, as one may expect, was not exactly in the best position to ask for a lunch break afterwards. Reflecting on her day, Aurelie''s lips kicked up in a sardonic smile. In such a short time, everything had changed so suddenly and so drastically.

    After eating the strange but good broth, Aurelie bid farewell to Farn, who promised that he would come the next day, and lay down. She thought about what she should do now, many different scenarios playing out in her head. Eventually, unknowingly, she fell into a worried sleep.

 Mellana

    "Bye mom!" Farn yelled over his shoulder as he ran out the door of his house. His mom shook her head with a rather exasperated expression as she watched him jump over both the railing of the balcony and the hedge that surrounded their house, then tear through the front yard. Farn angled himself towards a large stone building, which looked like a huge warehouse. If Aurelie saw the village she would be surprised. It looked like a very medieval town. The importance of the ones living inside the houses could generally be found out just by looking at the exterior. The houses of some people were a mixture of packed dirt and sticks. They weren''t tiny, but they couldn''t be called spacious either. There were no rooms, only a single space in which a kitchen, bedroom, and anything else the household had was crammed together.

    Other houses were made of wood. Some were like a teepee, with the inside a single room like in the dirt huts, but the majority were like a wooden hut. They looked as though they would fall apart once given a good shake, but were actually very sturdy. The area inside was much larger than their poorer dirt counterparts and they also had walls separating the kitchen and bedrooms.

    But the highest quality material used to construct buildings was stone. There was only a single stone house in the entire village. It was also the largest house in the village. It was centrally placed, and undoubtedly had the best amenities in the township. There was a kitchen, a dining room, five bedrooms, a spacious meeting room, a study, a small library, and a dojo. This house was called the Village Hall and belonged to the mayor of the town. This was also the house that Farn had come from. Unexpectedly, Farn was the mayor''s son.

    Even though the houses were usually fairly small, there were many of them, and the village had a fairly average (by this world''s standards) population. As such the village was a bustling place with many people hurrying around. One section of the village was a bright and loud marketplace. There, many villagers joked and gossiped with one another while they sold their wares, either homemade or acquired through travel. The village itself was self sufficient. They used the water from the river that ran from the waterfall pool at which Aurelie was currently camped out for drinking, to bathe, wash clothes, and for agriculture. For health purposes, Farn''s father, the mayor, had sectioned off the river into zones for each activity.

    Farn''s rather short run had taken him all the way to the outskirts of his village, and to the only other stone building in the village in the vicinity of the village. It looked more like a stone warehouse than anything else. In fact it very much resembled the warehouse that Aurelie had escaped from that fateful day. The height and width were the same as that warehouse. But this one was obviously in use, and was stone instead of brick and mortar.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    Farn pushed open the door that led into the huge space. The interior was a library. It had innumerable floor to ceiling bookshelves which were full of books, and there were even piles of books that couldn''t fit on the shelves lying around, to the point that despite the area of the library, which made it the largest building in the town, one felt a bit cramped when inside. Farn, obviously very familiar with the library, moved quickly and gracefully, easily maneuvering through the building and coming to another door, this one half hidden behind a stack of books. Instead of pushing these doors open as well, he instead knocked, saying, "Come on Mel, I have to take you somewhere!"

    The door opened and a girl, apparently the same age as Farn and Aurelie, emerged. Her hair was tousled from sleep and it was obvious that she had haphazardly thrown on random clothes for the purpose of being able to yell at Farn sooner. But he never gave her a chance to do that. Quickly motioning her to come with him, he then turned around and called over his shoulder "Bring a change of clothes and a cloak."

    Mellana turned and looked longingly at her soft bed, debating whether to ignore her childhood friend or not, then went to the mirror to straighten her clothes and comb her hair with a sigh. There were two reasons for her decision. Firstly, she knew Farn enough to know that he would just come and wake her up again if she went back to bed. Secondly, and more importantly, she was curious. For the past week, Farn had been disappearing into the forest for the entire day. Whenever someone tried to follow him he always managed to shake them off. This made people extremely curious, because Farn was usually a very open person. There were many rumors, but the only one that Mel could think was true was that he was having secret meetings with someone in the forest, especially considering that she still hadn''t gotten her cauldron, which she had lent to him over a week before, right at the start of all his strange behavior, back from him.

    Grabbing her clothes as she''d been instructed and running out her door, she easily threaded her way through the library and exited through the front door, waving cheerfully at a figure hidden in the shadows near the entrance at the door whom Farn had not noticed. The figure nodded in response to her, but made no other movements. Not minding this, Mellana exited the library to find Farn impatiently tapping his foot and looking towards the forest.

    Noticing that she had come out, Farn frowned and said, "Took you long enough. Let''s go. Come on!" Having said that, Farn once again took off, Mellana next to him this time.

 The Meeting

    Farn had been waiting expectantly for the opportunity to show someone else the strange girl that he''d found a week ago. He didn''t want any adults to know, knowing that they would see her as a possible threat to both him and the village and not allow him near her, and the only person he trusted to not spill the beans was Mellana. When he had talked to Aurelie earlier about bringing visitors to see her but she had said to hold off until she had completely learnt the language, and had somehow managed to learn it in a week. She had a grating accent and had yet to understand sentence structure, so (in her own words) she sounded like Yoda, but she was able to hold everyday conversations now.

    Within minutes, they had traversed the mile between the library and Aurelie''s resting place. She had moved a small distance away from the waterfall so that those who came to the area wouldn''t notice her.

    When they were more than three-fourths of the way there, they heard singing. Mellana stopped, amazed at not only the beauty of the voice, but also and most especially due to the fact that it was in another language. She, too, had never heard another language before. Her already piqued curiosity ratchet up to another level.

    Farn had also stopped, but for a different reason. Well, two different reasons. Firstly, he was trying to determine her position by where the song was coming from. Her new hiding place was a cliff, and sounds echoed. In addition, Aurelie kept moving, and was something of an expert when it came to concealing her presence.

    Also, this past week, Aurelie had been teaching him her own language, which she called English. He wasn''t as good at learning languages as she was and his progress was a bit slower than her progress, but he was still pretty good at it, curiosity driving him to learn. Of course, the force of his curiosity was nothing compared to the necessity which drove Aurelie.

    Excitedly, Farn realized that he had recognized a few words and started moving again so as to find Aurelie and let her know, ignoring the fact that he was going to brag about having recognized three words to a person who had practically learnt an entire language in less than a week.

    Aurelie watched Farn and his friend approach the clearing that she had moved into after that first night. Even she was rather surprised at the progress that she had made with the language, which she called Sorainellese, due to the fact that the world was called Sorainella, and since it was the uniform language here, no one had bothered to name it. She could already easily hold a general conversation, though she knew she had multiple gaps in her vocabulary. Even though it was true that she had a talent for linguistics, that was under the conditions were she had no distractions, and a teacher who actually knew how to teach. This week, she had had to fend off at least thirty different attacks from a various assortment of beasts, all of which were monstrous. And Farn definitely wasn''t used to teaching, skipping some explanations and reiterating often. But between them they had somehow managed to make things work out.Stolen story; please report.

    But Aurelie currently had a rather severe frown on her face. This was because she saw Farn''s female companion. The female part didn''t matter, the looks did. She looked exactly like him. Violet eyes standing out in an otherwise pale complexion, she looked exactly like a female version of Farn, but they obviously weren''t siblings due to the lack of familial resemblance (in terms of facial features). Did that mean that everyone here looked like them? No wonder Farn had looked so surprised when he first saw her! Why was it that no matter what she did she stuck out? Phil and Carter, probably. She mentally sent a curse to the two imaginary angels.

    Speaking of being strange, Farn had promised to tell her how to be as strong as him today, showing that his strength wasn''t natural, and that she could be like him if she wanted. Maybe. Hopefully. She could be screwed. More screwed than she already was, that is.

    Amazingly, despite her inner turmoil, she completed her song without a hitch or deviation in pitch (hey, that rhymed!) and without Farn finding her. She soundlessly leapt from tree to tree before dropping softly to the ground. The second the new girl saw Aurelie, she had the exact same reaction as Farn, dropping her bundle of clothes and screaming some word. Even the exact same mixture of emotions appeared on her face.

    A quick search through her memories showed that the word the girl had just screamed was the same word Farn had yelled, and the one that he had promised to explain today. She threw him a quizzical look, and he gave her a smile that she interpreted to mean patience. During their week of wordless communications, they had both become much better at reading each other''s emotions and could now say sentences to one another with a single glance.

    Farn then pulled Mellana aside and whispered something to her for several seconds. The emotional turmoil on her face cleared up, and she looked at Aurelie with curiosity. But an even greater curiosity burned within Aurelie. What had they talked about? What was the meaning of the word that they had yelled after seeing her? How was she going to get stronger? Finally, they turned back to her and Farn motioned for her to sit. Impatient, she did and narrowed her eyes at them. Smiling, Farn sat down, introduced her to Mellana, and started to speak.

 Aurelies False Past

    "There is something in this country called cultivation. Cultivators absorb the energy between the earth and the heavens into their own bodies. This energy is called the World Energy. There are ten different stages in cultivation: the Apprentice, Master, Grandmaster, Elemental Apprentice, Elemental Master, Elemental Grandmaster, Elemental Lord, Elemental King, Elemental Emperor, and Elemental God Realms." Farn told Aurelie.

    Aurelie gave a visible start. Both Farn and Mellana had called her an Elemental Apprentice. But why? And how could Farn say all that without pausing to sort all that out in his head? She knew she would''ve had to. Well, maybe not her, but a lot of people she knew would have had to.

    This was explained to her in Farn''s continuation of his explanation to her. Not how he could say all that so quickly, but why he and Mellana had thought she was an Elemental Apprentice.

    "Each realm is further divided into ten stages, and the third and seventh stages are both bottlenecks, and the division between realms is a very large bottleneck. The third realm, the Grandmaster Realm, is known as the dividing realm between the common and elite cultivators. Most people can never break into the Elemental Apprentice Realm, and those who do are highly coveted by all five kingdoms. Everyone in this continent looks like us, with pale skin and hair, and purple eyes. But once someone breaks through to the Elemental Apprentice Realm, they gain something called the Elemental Form, in which they gain control of an element and their appearance changes, though they can switch between their regular appearance and their Elemental Form. The Elemental Form reflects the element it controls. For example," here Farn gave Aurelie a sly glance, "those who control fire have blue eyes and red hair as their Elemental Form."

    Aurelie froze for a moment. She had been, and still was, staving off a huge outburst of denial, deciding to deal with it after the two had left. Right now, she decided to take everything at face value and not mind the impossibility of what Farn was telling her. The first thing that sprang out at her was the need for secrecy about her looks. Those super powerful Elemental Apprentices could mistake her to be one of them and that could be a problem because she wasn''t. She could then be found out as not from this world. She wasn''t quite sure as to what would happen in that scenario, but images of dissection tables and people burning at the stake danced through her head. Of course, there was also a benefit. There would be those who would be afraid of her, and that intimidation could work in her advantage. Unless they found out she wasn''t an Elemental Apprentice.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Aurelie looked at Farn, then asked, "How know you I not Elemental Apprentice?"

    Mellana, not knowing how Aurelie spoke, couldn''t help but let out a small giggle, but Farn answered her.

    "Because you didn''t light the fire that night. You waited for me to come back with firewood. Plus, you don''t have the aura of a cultivator. And if you wanted to hide the fact that you were a cultivator for whatever reason by suppressing your aura, why stay in your Elemental Form? It''s a dead giveaway. Lastly, the very fact that I had to explain cultivation to you proves that you aren''t an Elemental Apprentice."

    Aurelie looked at Farn with a considering glint in her eyes. He was smart and observant. If there were others like him who could think all this out, then the intimidation tactic would never work.

    Farn bounced on his knees, then said, "Tell me about who you are and where you''re from. You promised!" This was the main reason he had been in such a rush today. The enigmatic girl in the woods had promised to tell him all about herself.

    Aurelie hesitated momentarily, then opened her mouth to tell a lie, one that she''d tempered throughout the entire week and tweaked here and there during this meeting. One reason she had made Farn have his explanation first was to see how much fabrication she could get away with, and she had even borrowed a map to see where she currently was, surprised to see that the forest she was in bordered on the sea.

    "Before, a small mountain village I lived in. Born with these looks I was, and because looked different I did, persecuted a lot I was. After turned sixteen I did, driven out of village I was. Waiting to do this, they were. On a different continent and isolated my village was, and knew nothing about cultivation we did, so that why I not know what it is. Pure chance it was, that I come here to this continent. Sailing on ship I was when huge storm hit and ship capsized. Overboard I was thrown, and cling to piece of wood from boat I did. Managed to hold onto wood long enough to land on this shore here in forest. Wandering around in forest for week I was when I met Farn."

    Mellana and Farn looked suitably outraged at her treatment during her ''past'', though it was evident that Mellana was struggling to keep a straight face at how weirdly she had presented it. Farn even asked where her village was so as to go and pummel the ones living in it who had treated her so badly. Aurelie obviously couldn''t tell him, and redirected his thoughts by saying "No need, you don''t that do. I want you teach me cultivation, and I do myself."

    Aurelie wasn''t quite sure if she could cultivate, but trying wouldn''t hurt anyone. And if she could do it, then the huge bubble of denial that lurked under her calm exterior could shrink a bit. Or it could grow even larger. But she had already said the words, and Farn was explaining how to cultivate to her now.

 Cultivation

    "First you have to detect the World Energy. This is the hardest part. After you do that you have to absorb it into your body, then drag it through your veins in this path." Farn explained animatedly.

    He then pulled out a manual and opened the pages. On the first page was a diagram. It had a person sitting cross legged with their hands on their knees and arrows showing the energy path in the person. With a glance, the person and all the arrows and the entire path were imprinted in Aurelie¡¯s memories.

    Mellana looked at Farn with surprise. Cultivation Manuals, in which Cultivation Techniques were written, were considered very precious. The technique he had pulled out was the best one in the entire village. The reason the library was guarded was because there were cultivation techniques in it. She considered saying something to him, her teachings as the child of the Library Keepers coming to the forefront of her mind, but recalled Aurelie''s story and stayed silent. Farn went to turn the pages of the book, saying, "The diagram is explained in later pages..." but cut himself off upon seeing that Aurelie was already in position. He considered stopping her and telling her to read the manual, but told himself that there was no rush. It had taken him and Mellana an entire day to detect the World Energy, and they were considered geniuses.

    For her part, Aurelie was putting herself in a meditative state, stretching out her senses and awareness. As a job hazard, she had the ability to immediately give up all her worries and clear her mind. But after a minute of searching, the only thing that stood out to her was the already noted strange electric feeling, the prickling against her skin. ''Wait a minute... , don''t tell me...''

    Aurelie popped out of her meditative state and asked Farn, "World Energy feel prickly? Like lightning?"

    Stunned, Farn nodded and looked on as understanding flashed across Aurelie''s face and she went back into meditation. He probed the Energy around Aurelie and gave a start as he sensed it begin to be sucked into Aurelie. Aurelie, on the other hand, was feeling great. She could cultivate after all! She quickly dragged the Energy into her, carefully following the path on the diagram. All her pores opened wide, dragging in all the energy they could. She finally completed one cycle and a small ball of pure power was deposited within her.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Aurelie stared at the ball with her mind''s eye, poking at it with a mental finger. It curved around the finger, then rebounded off, as if she had poked a bubble without breaking it. ''That. Is. So. Cool.'' Excited, Aurelie absorbed more and more, watching with fascination as the ball grew larger and larger.

    Suddenly, it stopped growing. Frowning, she sucked in more Energy, and with a small shattering sound, the ball''s growth surged again. Satisfied, she continued to suck up the World Energy in her surroundings. After a little bit, the same thing happened. She gave the same response of dragging in more power, and with a louder sound, the invisible barrier gave way once more, though it lasted a bit longer this time. Slightly bored now, Aurelie continued her cultivation. Finally, she hit a third barrier. ''I''ll stop after this one,'' Aurelie thought to herself, licking her lips in anticipation of the challenge.

    Farn and Mellana looked at the girl in a meditation posture in front of them with something akin to terror. Less than a minute to sense the World Energy, ten minutes to get to the third stage in the Apprentice Realm, less than two minutes to break through the bottleneck, half an hour to become a seventh stage Apprentice, less than five minutes to break through that bottleneck, and now, one hour fifteen minutes after she started, Aurelie was attacking the bottleneck to become a first stage Master Realm practitioner. This speed, was she a monster? When would she stop?

    They got their answer fifteen minutes later. One hour and thirty minutes to go from having no cultivation to a Master Realm practitioner. If they told this story to anyone else, they would be considered as crazy. They would''ve called themselves crazy one and a half hours ago. But it had just happened. They were currently considering whether to go and applaud her, or to pummel her. It had taken them thirteen years of painstaking cultivation to reach their current rank of Master Realm second stage, and most of their peers were still stuck at the bottleneck of seventh stage Apprentice. They were rarely seen geniuses in their village, but they felt like trash in front of Aurelie. If they knew that the only reason she had stopped was because she was bored, and not because of mental fatigue, they would have torn the branches off of the neighboring trees and hit her with them, while screaming, "Give me back thirteen years of my life!"

    As it was, they just hobbled home, shell-shocked and wondering if they were dreaming.

 Explanation of Cultivation

    Aurelie lay on her back, arms folded under her head, relaxing after her workout. She was amazed at the changes that had taken place three days ago. She was stronger, faster, had more stamina, healed faster, and she even felt smarter, if that was possible. It was as though every aspect of her body had been upgraded, improved by several hundredfold. The effects of cultivation were amazing, far more potent than she imagined they would be, to the point that she had embarrassed herself after she had stopped.

    Aurelie watched Mellana and Farn stagger off towards their homes, slightly bemused at their reactions. She sat there for a while longer, poking the little ball of energy in her abdomen with childish amazement.

    Eventually, though, she decided she should go eat, then sleep. Putting her hands on the floor, she pushed off the ground to stand. But the amount of force she used- a normal amount, as far as she was concerned- sent her flying into a tree.

    ¡°What the¡­?¡± She mumbled, looking down at herself, then at the ground. Gingerly, she got up. However, ¡®gingerly¡¯ still sent her tumbling face first into another tree. She pushed off the tree, but in her frustration used a bit more force than she usually would. As her usual force seemed to send her tumbling, using even more than that sent her flying all the way to the other side of the clearing and straight through yet another tree.

    And so it went, Aurelie using varying amounts of force to figure out how gentle she had to be to get on her feet, and sending herself crashing more times than she cared to count.

    Luckily, though, she eventually found her feet and relaxed. This whole cultivation thing was a bit more trouble than she expected. She would need to find a way to readjust to her strength. Thinking of ways she could train herself into her previous state of complete control of herself, she took a step. She knew that it was too early to celebrate her success of getting up when her foot went straight through the ground, creating a clear footprint in the ground. This surprised her so much she jumped back, and that sent her at least twenty feet into the sky and a good ten feet back. She crashed into every tree branch on the way down, then lay at the bottom of a tree, dazed. Slowly, her expression changed to one of determination, and she blew a stray strand of hair off her face, eyes narrowed.

    She. Would. Get. This.

    And get it she had. It had taken her the whole first day, a lot of flying around, and a very serious battle with the forest, but she finally figured out how much strength to use when doing things. It took her the other two days and more flying around and tree fighting for the new level of strength to become her default level of strength. When she asked Farn and Mellana if she would have to regularly do this, they had told her that the only reason she had to do this now was because of her sudden spike in strength. Normally, the change was so gradual, the body knew what level of strength was required for normal everyday things.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    That day, after realizing that she was apparently cultivating too fast, she thought about the reason. The fact that she could easily sense the World Energy was because Earth had none of it, so the difference in the atmosphere stood out sharply to her. It would be stranger if she hadn''t immediately sensed it.

    The answer to her speed of cultivation was a bit tougher, but she came up with an answer for that too. Diffusion. There was no World Energy in her body, so when she opened her senses and invited it in, it rushed into her. On the other hand, the denizens of this world were exposed to that energy everyday, and their parents were also cultivators. They were born with a bit of World Energy within them, and absorbed a bit more everyday. So, while they had to absorb less to gain a rank, they had to work harder get the energy into them. She had less of that problem, because all her energy went into the little ball, and wasn''t soaked into her body. But now she could feel the subtle currents entering her, nourishing her body, even more so when she tired herself out. She could already tell that by tomorrow at the latest she would have a normal speed of cultivation, and that the only difference between her and other kids her age would be her looks. Cultivating would just speed up the process of becoming normal. She had also read the rest of the manual that Farn had given her, and was now practicing making her Spiritual Energy (which was what World Energy that had been absorbed was called) do as she said.

    Afterwards, she took a bath. This time she carefully washed the clothes that she had been wearing for the past week, which were now caked in mud, blood, and other things she had no desire to know. She hadn''t been able to do so before due to not having other clothes to wear while those clothes were drying. But with Mellana''s clothes, she now could. Done with bathing, laying her foundations, and not hungry, she waited for Farn and Mellana to come. Now was the time that the two usually came. These days, due to having an additional, and better, teacher named Mellana, Aurelie had now learnt grammar and sentence structure. The only difference between her and the others in terms of language was her harsh accent, but that could be explained as being from a different region.

    An hour later, Farn and Mellana hadn''t shown up. Aurelie frowned. They were way too late. Could something have happened? While thinking about all the different possibilities, which included Voldemort and the Joker (hey, she was in a whole different world, who knew? Certainly not her.), she grabbed Mellana''s cloak, tied her hair in a tight bun so that no strands would escape, stabbed the bun with the decorative sheaths of her throwing knives which were designed to look like hairpins, then pulled up the hood. She looked at her reflection in the waterfall pool on her way to the village, satisfied to note that no one would be able to tell that she wasn''t a normal person. Then she proceeded to the village.

    Farn had told her how to get to Lejus Village in case she had to tell him something in an emergency. She walked quickly, breaking into a run as she heard the clang of metal clashing. A little way before the fight, she stopped and scaled a tree, then jumped from tree to tree until she was directly above the fighting.

    Farn and Mellana were back to back in the center of a ring of at least ten different guys. There were several dead and dying bodies around them, which they''d arranged as roadblocks, so that they wouldn''t have to face too many people at once. Many of those they were fighting had injuries. But they did too, and exhaustion shone on both of their faces, whereas their attackers were exhilarated and angry. It was obvious Farn and Mellana were going to lose.

    Quickly and quietly, Aurelie climbed down the tree she had leapt to and waited in the shadows for a moment to make sure no one had seen her, as well as to plan her attack and take off her cloak. It didn''t matter if they saw her. All of them were going to die anyway. She took a deep breath, clearing her mind.

    Then she moved.

 Massacre

    Farn knew he couldn''t keep this up. His Master Level power was barely a trickle now. He could barely hold his sword. Mellana wasn''t doing much better, her hair matted with sweat and blood, and exhaustion creasing her face. He couldn''t believe that someone had used twenty of his second and third stage Master Realm practitioners in order to ambush him and Mel. There was even a fourth stage Master Realm cultivator. He knew who was behind this, and had resolved to get out of this alive. But now he severely doubted he could.

    Just as he was about to lose hope, one of the men gave let out a scream that turned into a gasping wheeze. The one he was battling with instinctively turned his head and Farn took advantage of his distraction to plunge his sword into the man''s heart, while he turned to see what happened for himself, making sure to stay on guard. One of the assailants had a slit neck. A quick glance at Mel showed him she hadn''t done it and that she too was looking at him to see if he''d done it. Her opponent was at her feet, as she had obviously taken advantage of her adversary''s distraction to land a decisive blow, as he had.

    So, if neither of them had killed the man, who had? Then one of the men gave a shout, pointing to the man opposite to him. Farn turned his head so fast he gave himself whiplash, then stared open mouthed at the scene of a young girl with flaming red hair and deep blue eyes with a murderous glint in them behind a man, stabbing him from behind, through the heart. Then the blade was pulled out and four flashes of cold light shot from the red headed Death God''s fingers, revealing themselves to be throwing knives after lodging themselves into four men''s throats. While she had thrown the blades, she had also made a graceful arc with her body, pulling her knife out of one man''s heart and into the same organ in another man in a single move. Less than three seconds had passed since her arrival, and seven new bodies littered the ground. The men looked at their fallen comrades, then back at her.

    Well, back where she had used to be. She had disappeared the instant their eyes had left her. The men instantly went into a panic. An Elemental Apprentice? Here? They didn''t stand a chance. Some tried to run but Aurelie reappeared to get rid of them. The men then stayed put in a terrified silence.

    Farn stared at the dead bodies, his mind replaying images of Aurelie''s face as she stabbed the man. The girl he knew was a optimistic, continuously smiling, vivacious, and bubbly girl. The one he''d just seen was terrifying, with a determined and cold gaze, a stern set to her mouth, a girl who wore her bloodlust as a thick coat around her. Which one was the real one?

    Three other thuds stole his attention. Three more men had fallen dead where they stood, leaving only one living attacker left. Petrified, he started to back away from Aurelie, but she dashed towards him, a red bolt of lightning. The man held out a piece of paper and yelled a single word: "Activate." The paper suddenly grew, forming huge wings which attached themselves to him. Jumping up, he flew off. Aurelie stared after him, dumbfounded.

    ''Yeah'' she thought to herself. ''I got a lot left to learn. And, note to self, if you see a deathly pale guy with slits for a nose, run the other way screaming bloody murder.''

    She turned back to her two friends.

    "Any chance my appearance and I can stay a secret now?"

    Blank stares.

    "Yeah, didn''t think so. So, what was that all about anyway?"

    More blank stares, but they showed signs of rousing themselves.

    "Come on guys, what happened?"

    This garnered a response, mostly because Mellana had pinched Farn to make sure this wasn''t a dream and that a first stage Master Realm cultivator had actually just taken less than five minutes to kill ten second and third Master Realm practitioners and force someone in the fourth stage of the Master Realm to run for his life and the sudden small pain had woken Farn up. Aurelie grinned inwardly. She enjoyed finding little gestures in this world that coincided with the ones from her world.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    "Right. Okay. Um, my village, Lejus Village, was friends with our neighboring village, Meir Village, for a very long time. But, lately there is a drought happening in Meir Village. They also had a greedy new village head, named Gradas Meir, take the previous one''s place. So, instead of asking us for access to the falls and river, they plan to take my village over. They plan to kill me because I am both the village head''s son and one of our villages most powerful future fighters. Taking me out weakens Lejus both mentally and physically." Farn told her, frowning.

    "My being here was just a bonus, though I was probably target number two. Being the youngest child and only daughter of the Library Keepers for Lejus Village, as well as the only one who is comparable to Farn in terms of fighting strength." Mellana added.

    "Is there nobody stronger than you in your village?" Aurelie asked, surprised. Maybe her rise in power was meteoric.

    "No, but we are the strongest in the younger generation. Everyone stronger than us is also at least ten years older than us. We are considered to be geniuses in our village." Mellana frowned at Aurelie. "Not that we can call ourselves that now."

    Aurelie decided to ignore the prickly feeling of guilt. No way could she tell them that her speed was because she was from a different world. So instead she focused on her second point of interest. "What are Library Keepers?"

    "They are the ones who guard the library and make sure no one goes somewhere they don''t have access to. The library contains our history and Cultivation Technique Manuals. By the way, Farn gave you our most precious cultivation technique."

    Stunned, Aurelie looked at Farn. He had completely trusted her, a complete stranger, with his village''s most important document. She had already decided to help him take down Meir Village, but now she cemented that decision. She would help them no matter what. Then a small part of her mind spoke up. Frowning, she decided to deal with the issue the small voice brought up later. Right now she had to know what she was up against.

    "I''m going to help you guys out. What is your village''s line up, their village''s line up, and what the hell was up with that piece of paper?"

    Farn and Mellana exchanged joyful glances, then Farn spoke, as he had a better idea of their strengths due to his position.

    "My dad is the most powerful in our village, and is a ninth stage Grandmaster. My mom is an eighth stage Grandmaster, and so is my uncle and Mel''s parents. There are ten people at seventh stage Grandmaster, fifteen at sixth stage Grandmaster, and we don''t keep track after that. The other side has the same amount of ninth and eighth stage Grandmasters, three more seventh stage Grandmasters, and five less sixth stage Grandmasters. And I''ll explain Alchemists and Enchanters to you now. Alchemists make pills that increase your cultivation for short amounts of time, or increase cultivation speed, or ones that can speed up healing and there are many other types capable of lots of other things. Enchanters use sigils to grant powers. For example, you just saw someone use the sigil for ''fly''. Both Enchanters and Alchemists are rare and are very highly valued. We don''t have either one, and I didn''t think they did either until just now, but they must have hired an Enchanter."

    Aurelie froze for a moment to process the new information, and Farn got up and walked off. "Wait!" Aurelie yelled after him. He turned and looked at her. "Aren''t you going to hide these?" A gesture at the dead bodies surrounding them.

    Farn''s face turned stormy. "Do you believe I am afraid of Meir?"

    "No, but I don''t want you to be arrested!"

    "Huh?"

    "You know, put behind bars, in the slammer."

    Aurelie and Farn looked at each other, both confused. Mellana stepped up.

    "Aurelie, here there is a principle that says you can kill whomever you want. Of course their family can take retribution by killing you, so you have to be careful to either not be known to have killed that person, or have the confidence to take on their entire family. Is it not like that on your continent?"

    Aurelie thought of hard faced police officers and their long struggle with injustice, and most especially of the FBI unit assigned to find out who she was during her career as an assassin.

    "No, not really."

 Making a Move

    Aurelie looked up at the stars. She couldn''t get enough of them. New York, hell, most of the modern world didn''t provide this clear view of the dazzling night skies. But her focus wasn''t on the stars tonight. It was on the issue that she had realized earlier today. How far would she go to help her friends? She couldn''t put her life in danger, or else she could easily die, especially in light of this world''s eye-for-an-eye style of uncivilized justice. And if she died then she would never be able to see Zane again. But if she ran and hid while those she considered friends stood and fought, she would be a coward, the type of person she hated the most. Where did she draw the line? She had come up with multiple different types of answers during the day, but after carefully considering all of them, one stood out as the best choice. To measure herself against Zane. If she could go back, look him in the eye, and proudly relay every detail of her journey to him, then it would be fine. Even if she died, she would do it knowing he wouldn''t hate her for it. Well, he would, but he would understand why she did as she did.

    Aurelie stretched and got up, one of her most pressing concerns dealt with. She ate the rest of her snake stew, lugged the cauldron over to the waterfall pool, and carefully washed it, reminding herself to thank Mellana tomorrow. She then checked that her old clothes were dry, and packed them into her bag. She then went around picking up the trash and remnants of her presence from around the area where she had stayed, frowning when she realized that the empty Cheetos bag was nowhere to be found. Figuring the wind had blew it away, she shrugged and looked around. Spotless. Martha Stewart would be proud.

    The reason for her sudden cleaning spurt was because of the fact that she was moving out tomorrow. All three of them had agreed that Aurelie should move into the village for the time being, so that she would be close at hand in case those from Meir Village made a move. They also agreed to keep the fact that she was from a different ''continent'' to themselves, Aurelie doing so because she didn''t want anyone to look into her story to closely, and Farn and Mellana doing it because they wanted to keep Aurelie''s cultivation speed to themselves. They were still teenagers, and their pride wanted them to still be considered geniuses.

    Having have had packed, Aurelie decided to try her hand at cultivation again. This time, the World Energy flowed into her at an exponentially slower pace, such that she could see why it took so long to get any significant amount of cultivation done. But she continued to suck the energy out of the air. She needed to be as strong as she could be, to give her life extra safety. This time, she wasn''t bored, due to the fact she was multitasking. Usually, cultivators gathered all the energy they could and then laid their foundations. Making sure that the energy didn''t contain any impurities was done by the cycle of the Cultivation Technique, and laying your foundations strengthened you in the future, both were equally important to becoming a powerful cultivator, and messing up either step could cripple them depending on the size of the mistake. But Aurelie was more than capable of splitting her considerable brainpower to do two different tasks, and if a problem arose in one, she could always stop doing the other and deal with it. And so she went, steadily gathering strength. She could have done it all night, but she already had things to do that night, ones that didn''t have to do with cultivating. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    Stopping after about three hours, she looked up at the sky. There was still about half of the night left, and she had a lot of things left to do. Firstly, she took out her three guns, disassembled them, cleaned the parts, then reassembled them. There shouldn''t be any problems now. Then she put on her usual weaponry. Both daggers in ankle sheaths, both combat knives in her arm sheaths, a gun tucked into the waistband of her leggings, and her eight throwing knives. She had decorated both the knives and the sheath to make it hard to tell that they were knives. As always, she wore the eight as hairpins with the double purpose of holding her hair in a tight bun and to have easy access to them. She then donned the cloak and swiftly moved to go to Lejus Village. From there she followed the directions Farn had given her earlier that day and started to make her way to Meir Village.

    ''They will rue the day they made me their enemy,'' she thought to herself with a grin. Because while Farn would be happy to win this fight, Aurelie would settle for nothing less than to completely cripple the village. And if her plan came to fruition, Lejus Village would lose no men while Meir Village would lose dozens. In fact, if things did end the way she planned, then there would be no fight at all, Meir''s spirit too broken to even consider fighting Lejus Village.

    ~~~~~~~

    Farn lay down on his bed with a sigh. Introducing who Aurelie was to his parents had proven to be one of the hardest things he had ever done. He would have had an easier time convincing them that the sky was brown than making them believe that Aurelie meant no harm to anyone. Half the time they had talked about the issue was used to berate him for giving the clan''s most precious manual to a complete and total stranger or, worse, a spy for Meir. When he finally got them to listen to him, he had had to talk about how she had managed to kill a Metallic Snake and Red Crystal Rhino while only being his age and weaker than him. He''d then went into how she had lived in a remote area and lacked knowledge about cultivation. He had reinforced this by pointing out that he had needed to tell her about Enchanters and Alchemists.

    But what finally made them sit up and pay attention was that she had killed the men sent after him. While it was true that stage surpassing challenges weren''t rare, and the one from the lower stage winning wasn''t any big news, the one from the lower stage completely dominating and killing off ten men and forcing someone four entire stages higher to run was completely unheard of. Then he told them the clincher: Aurelie hadn''t used a drop of her cultivation, or even a Martial Technique, the whole time. The entire fight was done with only Aurelie''s body strength. His parents had immediately went off into a corner to discuss the implications. They had agreed to let her stay with them, but had warned him that she was to have limited access to information until she had proven herself to be loyal to the village. ''Well,'' Farn thought to himself, ''it could be worse. Hope she doesn''t do anything suspicious.''

 Moving Out in Style

    The next morning Farn and his parents showed up at the waterfall pool, waiting for Aurelie to come out. Barely a second later Mellana showed up with her mom, as her dad was on Library Duty and therefore unavailable to come. Mrs. Fadan looked about as happy to be there as Farn''s parents did. As in, not at all. The two sets of parents went over to the side to discuss something, probably Aurelie, while he and Mellana discussed the events of last night. Apparently Mellana''s argument to trust Aurelie was surprisingly similar to Farn''s. The only thing that they could do now was wait to see her and hope that she didn''t mess things up.

    Just as they were worrying, a bright voice chirped, "Hi guys! Good morning! Ready to go?"

    They all turned and saw a girl with hair the color of fire and eyes like two sapphires twinkling with amusement standing between the kids'' group and the group of adults. Farn and Mellana, accustomed to Aurelie''s sneakiness, went up to hug and greet her. The adults, on the other hand, were shocked. They had heard of Aurelie''s ability to go unnoticed, but had assumed that the only reason their children couldn''t detect her was because of the fact that their power levels were similar. They had assumed that they would be able to sense her, and even Farn and Mellana thought that way, as every time one broke through a bottleneck, their senses enhanced greatly. But even they were unable to to tell she was here. Pausing, the three sized her up.

    Over at where she was hugging Mellana, Aurelie was thinking of the new people she had just met. Farn''s mother was a rather lovely woman with a welcoming face, whereas his dad was harder and leaner, telling her that he hadn''t let his position go to his head and paid attention to the responsibilities that came with it. She liked him. Mellana''s mom was of the stern librarian variety, which made sense when you thought of her job. She had her hair back in a bun and wore pince nez style glasses, and had an air of dignity around her. Aurelie had planned her entrance perfectly. It allowed her to see what the adults were like before they could see her, allowing her to slip back into the happy and optimistic half of her personality without having to give anything away about the darker and calculating part, and she could test as to whether they could sense her if she wished to sneak around. Frankly, she had thought that they could do it, so she pleasantly surprised to find that she was sneakier than she thought. An extra trump card never hurt anybody.

    So thinking, she stepped towards them with a sunny smile and an outstretched hand. "Hi, my name is Aurelie Kanos, what are your names?"

    "Manadet Fadan." Mellana''s mother nodded to her, ignoring the hand Aurelie held out. It was then enveloped in Farn''s father''s hand, who introduced himself as Kadaras Lejus and his wife as Danadie Lejus.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    After having gotten the formalities out of the way, Aurelie shouldered her bag and started to walk to Lejus Village, chatting happily with Farn and Mellana. The adults brought up the rear.

    "Do you really think she is just at the first stage of the Master Realm?" Manadet whispered to Kadaras.

    But Danadie was the one who answered. "Yes. However it is obvious that she has had training in stealth and killing. I don''t know if she means us harm or not yet."

    Kadaras nodded, then discreetly nudged Manadet as he flicked his eyes to Danadie. Both women surreptitiously nodded. They had all felt someone joining up with them, following them in the trees. Then, up ahead, Mellana said, "What''s wrong, Aurelie? You stopped in the middle of your sentence."

    The adults all looked at each other. Had Aurelie also noticed? It seemed she had, for her gaze turned watchful and wary when she looked at the trees. But then the she ran back to the adults, saying, "Since we''re all going to go to the same place, shouldn''t we travel together?"

    The adults were confused for a moment. She had already found out there was someone targeting them, so why was she bringing the kids into danger? As soon as they thought this they realized the error of their presumption. There was no one in Meir who could bring all three of them down easily. The only one with a slight chance was the village head, and someone like him would never sneak around in the trees. If Gradas did something, it would be loud and obvious. The target of the one in the trees had to be one of the children. Walking together would make it easier for them to protect the children. The three parents felt their good impression of Aurelie grow a bit.

    Nothing happened while they walked to the village. It was apparent that the assassin wasn''t going to do anything to the kids while three of the strongest people in Lejus Village were right there. Kadaras, Danadie, and Manadet were letting out a sigh of relief, but the instant before they would enter the village territory, Aurelie pulled down the hood of her cloak, whipped one of her throwing knives out of its sheath in her hair and sent it hurtling at an innocuous tree. A bare moment later, a male body fell from the tree, that very knife buried hilt deep in his throat, his final look of surprise etched onto his face.

    The others were wearing matching expressions minus the knife in throat part. Farn and Mellana were surprised because they hadn''t noticed anyone was there, and their parents were shocked that Aurelie had so randomly and so quickly killed the man. Their hair rose at the speed of Aurelie''s knife. If they were prepared for it or even just saw it, then they would be able to dodge it, though with difficulty. But since when were throwing knives supposed to be obvious in their use? All she had to do was aim at their backs when their guard lowered and they would have to save their regrets for the afterlife, especially considering that they couldn''t detect her presence. She could have killed them ten times over during this walk. Simultaneously, their trust and fear towards her grew.

 Sneaking Out

    "Why did you kill him? It was obvious that he wasn''t going to do anything to the kids." Danadie asked Aurelie, genuinely curious.

    "For how long? He could spy on them for weeks if he wished. The second they were out of our sight they were dead. Having him alive and around would just be an unnecessary source of worry and stress for all involved. You need to stop thinking of the Meir Villagers as your friends, because they aren''t going to be reasonable and settle this. You are at war. Realize that." Aurelie''s face was uncharacteristically harsh and the eyes were sharp. "The longer you take to move decisively, the more danger they are in. And I''m not going to let friends of mine be in more trouble than absolutely necessary."

    Having said her piece, she stalked over to the dead man, pulled out the knife, and wiped it on his shirt to get rid of the blood, before placing her knife unerringly into her sheath, an impressive feat, considering she couldn''t see where the empty sheath was, and an act that betrayed her familiarity with the act of using throwing knives as hair ornaments. The more time they spent around her, the more evidence they found of her lethality. They knew that she was capable of hiding her abilities, the very fact that their children hadn''t reported her as danger immediately after meeting her a testament to that. So right now she was likely sending a message to them, one that said ''This is who I am, deal with it because I''m not going to go away.''

    Aurelie popped up from her crouch by the body and stomped down the dirt path that wound it''s way towards Lejus Village. She only went about ten steps before turning on her heels and walking back, ending up right in front of the adults. They stiffened, remembering Aurelie''s angry outburst, and expecting another, similar, scathing declaration. Instead, Aurelie looked up at them and smiled sheepishly before saying, "I don''t know where to go." and giving a little laugh. The tension in the air drained and Manadet let out a small hmph, before saying, "Of course not. Come, you will live with Farn in the Village Hall."

    Manadet started to walk again, this time leading the way.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie sat down on the bed that she had been given in Farn''s house. It wasn''t anything like the beds on Earth. The mattress had no springs or foam layers. It was basically just a layer of cotton covered by cloth, like a huge pillow but with no fluff. She could feel every bump and blemish in the wood of the bed frame. Having the mattress was practically the same as not having it, though it did beat sleeping on the floor as she had been doing for the past week. Of course, she had only just been told about an hour earlier that most cultivators didn''t sleep. They entered a meditative state of cultivation all night, and their body and mind rested while they absorbed the World Energy.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Aurelie had noticed that she had felt slightly rested and relaxed after cultivating, but had never thought that it was actually to the point that she could cultivate in lieu of sleep, by way of a special, widely known Cultivation Technique. This night she cultivated for three hours, until midnight. The Lejus family had told her that most of the villagers, and they too, woke up at daybreak, or five in the morning. That left her four hours to do her business, and another hour afterwards to continue cultivation.

    Silently, she slipped out of bed and put on the clothes that Farn''s parents had secured for her, before noiselessly going to her window. She had never removed any of her weapons throughout the course of the day. Habit from her childhood, though they came in handy now, as they made negated the possibility of her making a noise to awaken any of the house''s inhabitants as she armed herself. Still, before opening the window, she opened her senses and scanned her whereabouts with her Spirit Energy, to make sure that everyone was where they should be and that no one was lying in wait for her. Satisfied that everything was fine, she slid out of her window and stepped onto the tree branch a foot from her perch. Pausing as the tree shook slightly, she scanned again. Nobody had moved from their positions. Quietly, she climbed down the tree, keeping her senses open. When no one made any movements, she nodded to herself, then melted into the shadows, pulling them around her like an old familiar coat as she soundlessly ran in the direction of Meir Village.

    ~~~~~~~

    The next morning, Farn pulled her out of the dining room the instant she finished her rather gross breakfast and took her to the library, where Mellana was waiting for them. Her mother stood right next to her, obviously there just to watch and make sure that Aurelie didn''t try anything. As Aurelie passed by the entrance, she stopped and abruptly turned her head to the left, her deep blue eyes piercing the shadows. After a moment she relaxed and turned to follow Mellana while casually saying, "You take after your dad more than your mom in terms of looks, Mel."

    Mellana and her mother exchanged looks of surprise. Almost no one could sense the Library Keepers if they wished to be hidden. The only one who could was Farn''s father, and even that was only when he put in considerable time and effort into it.

    Manadet had thought about this yesterday as well, when Aurelie had killed the man in the trees. Truthfully, the adults at the time only knew what tree the man was in. But in order to have hit him so accurately in the throat, Aurelie would have needed to know which part of which branch he was on, whether he was standing or crouching or sitting, whether there was anything in the way and a dozen other small details to have carried out the successful attack. And her just randomly guessing and then throwing wasn''t an option, as she had already stated that she wouldn''t put her friends in any unnecessary danger, which they would have been in if the knife hadn''t killed him and he''d decided to strike back. Both the incident yesterday and the one just now showed that although her strength was at the first level of the Master Realm, her level of awareness was equivalent to that of an Elemental Apprentice practitioner, or even higher, which was ironic given her appearance.

 Mishap at the Library

    Unaware of, or possibly just ignoring, the fact that Manadet was staring at her, Aurelie was getting a lesson from Farn.

    "Today, we''re going to show you Martial Techniques. They''re techniques that incorporate Spiritual Energy into your attacks. They, along with Cultivation Techniques, are divided into five levels based on efficiency and the power they display. The levels are, from bottom to top, Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, and Ancient. These stages are then further divided into three tiers, low, mid, and high tier. The Cultivation Technique that we''re using right now is a high-tier Uncommon level technique. Oh, and a tip for you for when you fight. If you imbue your Spiritual Energy into your weapon, the weapon is upgraded in terms of strength and durability, and your attacks become fiercer. Of course, there is a limit. If you imbue too much Spiritual Energy into a weapon and the material the weapon is made of is unable to take it, then the weapon will immediately break. That''s why high quality weapons cost so much, because they can take in much more energy before breaking. In fact, weapons are divided into the same categories as Cultivation Technique Manuals and Martial Techniques."

    Aurelie nodded, looking serious as she absorbed the new information. Every day, she realized more and more how little she truly knew about this new world she was now a member of. This information was necessary to have in order to blend in. The things that were common sense to them were unlikely to be common sense to her, and vice versa.

    ''Well, then again'', she thought with a sardonic inward grin, ''some of the things that are common sense to me would probably fit in here better than they fit in there, namely my inability to leave the house without being armed to the teeth with knives and guns.'' The biggest reason she hated airports wasn''t because she got air sick, but because she couldn''t find a way to keep a weapon on her as she boarded, meaning she had to be unarmed until she reached her weapons cache in her destination city. Uncle Chase had called her paranoid on multiple occasions, and she had always countered by saying that it wasn''t paranoia if they really were out to get you, and that she, as an assassin, wasn''t exactly without any enemies.

    Aurelie was snapped out of her memories of the past by the fact that everybody else had stopped in front of a bookshelf. Farn pulled out a book and handed it to Aurelie. It really couldn''t be described as a book, though, as it was slim and seemed to hold less than twenty pages of writing. On the cover, the words The Suction Palm were written.

    "This is one of the easiest Martial Techniques in the village to learn. Try this first, then we''ll try more complex ones."

    Aurelie opened the pages of the book, and studied the first five pages of the sheepskin bound volume. They had diagrams of the step to step process of how the Spiritual Energy had to be manipulated in order to use the move. The remaining nine pages were filled with the position one must take in order to have the optimum suction force. It really was as the title said, a method to make the surrounding objects move towards your palm.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    "Whoever wrote this had the same naming sense as historians and Shakespeare. In other words, none at all." Aurelie muttered to herself.

    "What did you say?" Manadet asked her, furrowing her brows. It had sounded like a whole other language, but the words were to low and Aurelie''s accent too harsh for her to be certain about whether or not her ears were playing tricks on her.

    "No, nothing. I was just wondering if anyone has learnt this technique and if they would give me a demonstration." Aurelie replied with a smile, quickly changing the topic.

    "Sure, I''ll show you." Farn said, quickly stepping up before Mellana''s mother could follow up on her questioning. He extended his hand and the loosely held book in Aurelie''s hands flew out of her grip and towards him. He caught it and smiled at her, but she frowned.

    "But the book said it was supposed to be like..."

    Aurelie''s face showed an intense concentration as she turned back towards the bookcase and made the gestures that she had read about, her mind providing her with the images and explanations while her body obligingly slid into every position, not even a millimeter off. Farn, Mellana, and Manadet watched her with a slight smile. Actually, the Suction Palm was a very useful technique once mastered. The fact was, however that it was almost impossible to master.

    The reason was because the pose was too specific to get into in a reasonable amount of time, which was why Farn hadn''t gotten into the correct position, and the general census was that it wasn''t worth it to get into it as most people believed that the suction force wouldn''t increase by a significant amount, so most didn''t bother to master it, to the point that not even a single person in the village had ever attempted to get into the correct position. Rather than tell Aurelie that it was nigh impossible to execute the attack perfectly, they decided to let Aurelie find out for herself. It not only saved them time by avoiding an argument, but it also provided them with a way to measure her potential. Well, Farn and Mellana didn''t need to do this, as they already witnessed her cultivating speed, but Manadet wanted to know.

    But they were all amazed several seconds later as a suction force several thousands of times larger than Farn''s burst out of her. Immediately, all the books on the bookcase in front of her moved towards her palm, followed by the top of the bookshelf. Watching the hundreds of books rushing towards her and the heavy bookshelf about to fall onto her, Aurelie let out a weak "Oops."

 Genius

    Mellana, her mother, and Farn all leaped out of the way, shock filling them. Was that actually the Suction Palm? One of the most useless techniques in the village? How could this be!? Then Farn realized that Aurelie wasn''t with them. She was still looking at the bookcase about to crush her!

    Aurelie, for her part, was unable to move out of the way. Part of the reason was because of shock, but the majority of her immobility was due to the fact that her brain was whirring at mach speed, coming up with a solution to the problem. Finding one, she jumped, landing on the wall where the bookshelf previously rested, and immediately used the technique again.

    This time she didn''t need to get into position and do the moves. She had already figured out the trick to the motions. They were to ease the flow of the student''s Spiritual Energy without the need to completely memorize the path, and to control how much energy went where and when. Since she already knew all that due to her memory, she drew her Spiritual Energy through the same path that she had just used, and used another Suction Palm. The bookcase and books halted their descent, then slowly started to return to their original positions, accelerating every second she continued her usage of the technique.

    Aurelie carefully watched the gap between the bookshelf and the ceiling. At the last possible second, she jumped off the wall and shot through the tiny space, landing safely in front of the bookcase. It teetered slightly, as she had had to terminate the technique before she had leaped. She had anticipated this, however, and slammed herself against the giant piece of furniture. It stabilized back into it''s previous position, though a few books on the higher shelves did fall down. Aurelie waited for a moment to make sure the bookcase was stable and stepped away, rubbing her head where a book had fallen on it just now. She took a look around, silently giving thanks that the bookcase had been against a wall. If there had been other bookcases behind it that had also fallen, then the library would likely have turned into a place of destruction as the shelves fell down one by one like a row of dominoes. She also noted that the little ball of energy within her was almost halfway depleted. She was alarmed for a moment before realizing that the ball was already replenishing itself. So Spiritual Energy automatically came back after use without any need for intervention on the cultivators part, but in order to get it to grow you needed to actively cultivate. Interesting.

    "Well, that was interesting. Sorry for almost wrecking your library, Mr. and Mrs. Fadan." Aurelie said, walking towards her friends with a small smile. She had realized the instant Mellana''s father had joined them, probably in a hurry to see what the huge burst of power was about.

    "Are you alright?" Mellana asked, walking towards Aurelie, Farn moving alongside her.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    "I''m fine. Farn, stop there and throw that book at me." Aurelie replied. Confused and curious, a mix of emotions he had found himself feeling often around Aurelie, Farn did as asked. While the book was flying towards her, Aurelie did a series of movements. It looked like the Suction Palm move sequence, but at the same time wasn''t. Aurelie finished the motions right when the book was about to smash into her face. A force came out of her, around the same amount of force as the amount Farn had projected when demonstrating the Suction Palm, but instead of pulling everything around her, this force pushed, and sent the book flying back to Farn. Frowning, Aurelie stood back up from the crouch the series of movements had ended in and flexed her hand. The force of rejection should have been the same as the force of attraction that had resulted from the true Suction Palm, but it was significantly lower than she expected.

    ''Seems it needs a little tweaking. Thank god I decided to play it safe and not use this to deal with that falling stuff just now. The force isn''t strong enough to have put everything back. The books would have gone back, but the bookshelf would''ve continued falling, and that wouldn''t be good."

    Mellana gasped and Farn stared at the book he had instinctively caught as it hurtled back towards him after Aurelie used her newest technique. A technique she had created by herself.

    Creating a technique usually took inspiration, large amounts of time spent meditating on the basic principles, and countless attempts and lots of trial and error. All in all, it took many years. And Aurelie had just created one in less than a minute. It felt like the instant they met Aurelie, reality warped and broke into a million tiny fragments. She became a Master Realm practitioner in an hour and a half, killed more than ten practitioners who were of at a higher stage than her in cultivation, and showed them that the technique which most had believed to be the most useless technique in the village was in fact one of the top techniques in the village by performing the True Suction Palm on her first attempt, and created a new technique in record time. They were beginning to get used to not having any expectations of Aurelie having limits. Whenever they thought ''she can''t do that'', she immediately proved them wrong. They were starting to get tired of it actually, and instead of freaking out as they would have normally done, they were just dazed for a few moments before walking up to her and asking her to teach them the new move she had created.

    Manadet watched the three of them go through the movements, Aurelie teaching and slowly showing the motions as she lead the other two through the routine, before she glanced at her husband. He nodded indicating that he had also noticed what the children hadn''t. When Aurelie had clung to the wall as she righted the shelf, she hadn''t needed to get into the pre-step postures. In other words, she had completely mastered the true Suction Palm. Mastering a technique took time, as it meant doing the move over and over until it became muscle memory, to the point that you needed no time and no prior moves to use the technique. The higher the level of the technique, the harder it was to execute and, therefore, master. Farn and Mellana had gone on and on about how talented and how much potential Aurelie had, but it was only now that they realized how amazing she actually was. She was either a lethal threat or a well-timed blessing.

 Meir Village

    Meir Village was laid out in much the same manner as Lejus Village, with an assortment of mud and wood huts, and with a large stone building in the center that served as the Village Hall. If one had to point out a difference, though, it would be that Meir was encased in an angry restless energy, as opposed to the sad and resigned air that hung around Lejus Village.

    When Aurelie had first come to the village, she had been come to Meir Village, she had been surprised by the atmosphere around the village. If what Farn had said was correct, then Meir Village should have been the same as Lejus Village in terms of aura, the villagers reluctantly pulled into a war which only their leader wanted. After spending a bit of time in the village, she figured out what had happened.

    Gradas Meir had fed his people a lie, telling them that he had gone to Kadaras and Danadie Lejus to ask for access to the water from the falls and/or river, they hadn''t cared and had instead told him that he had to pay a hefty price everyday that he wished to use the water. His people had no reason to doubt him, and this resulted in the current circumstances. Aurelie frowned. The problem was that, with the difference in morale, Meir had another advantage, the first being that they had three more practitioners at the seventh stage of the Grandmaster Realm. In theory, if Lejus'' five extra sixth stage Grandmasters ganged up and defeated the three seventh stage Grandmasters one by one, they could do it, but that was just theory, and the chances of it happening on a chaotic battlefield was very slim.

    Aurelia shook her head, driving away her thoughts. After all, if things went the way she wanted them to, it would never develop into a war to begin with. She stealthily slunk into the Village Hall. She found the meeting Room with relative ease, as even the inner layout mirrored Lejus Village''s Village Hall.

    After entering the room, she stopped and stared for approximately five seconds (after ensuring that it was safe to do so and no one would walk in on her being dumbstruck by spreading out her Spirit Energy: she was a professional).

    Gradas Meir had turned his meeting room into a throne room. There was an honest to god velvet and gold throne on a raised dais, which had several steps in front of it which had a red carpet on them that rolled out to right in front of the door. There were no other chairs in the room, ensuring that anyone who came to consult with him had to stand and report. The place looked like the set of a bad movie and said more about Gradas Meir''s personality than anything else she''d seen or heard of to date.

    Taking a deep breath to keep her disgust and disbelief at bay, Aurelie tucked herself into the small crack between a huge and extravagant potted plant, one of many that ran along the walls of the room. She took another deep breath, slowed down her heartbeat, and waited. Before long, Gradas strutted into the room, and Aurelie almost gave herself away by laughing out loud. He had a huge crown on his head and a huge velvet fur lined coat, one so large that two people had to walk behind him and hold the corners to prevent it from dragging behind him. The man himself was comically short. Tailing him were a crowd of about fifteen of his closest advisers.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    ''Overcompensating for something, are we?'' Aurelie thought to herself, but she still continued to cautiously regulate her breathing and heartbeat. Even though he looked like a fool, he was still at the ninth stage of the Grandmaster Realm. Her puny first stage Master Realm strength was nothing, not to mention the fact that he knew more Martial Techniques than her. Gradas took his sat on his throne, unaware of Aurelie''s presence. This was another, and possibly the most important, reason that Aurelie had hid from Farn and Mellana''s parents, to see if someone at their strength could sense her, as a test to see whether or not she could infiltrate Meir''s Village Hall. She had spent last night observing the movements of the guards, which was remarkably more organized and far tighter than the patrol of the buffoons who kidnapped her.

    Now, she held her body tense, ready to flee at even the slightest indication that someone had sensed her. Despite her worries, though, no one noticed her, and she was able to eavesdrop on the meetings he has fairly easily. After about an hour of listening to the regular everyday problems of Meir Village, Aurelie finally heard what she had come here to listen in on. A conversation on Lejus Village. Holding her body tense, she opened her ears wide.

    "Sir, the man who used the fly enchantment and crashed into the Village Hall woke up an hour ago. When asked about what happened, he said that all of the people he went with were killed, and the reason he used the enchantment was because a fire Elemental Apprentice showed up and killed over half of the attackers in less than five minutes, without even using any Martial Techniques. He wished to warn us about the new threat, and escaped alone."

    Gradas snorted. "He ran to save his life. But since he gave us useful information, I''ll pardon his cowardice and usage of an enchantment that was one of twenty that cost me years of hard work and half of last year''s profit. But where did that fool Kadaras get the money and know how to hire an Elemental Apprentice anyway? If there is more than one..." He drummed his fingers against the armrests of his throne, frowning.

    Aurelie grinned in her mind. It seemed that her failure to finish off that group was actually a blessing. Now, worries of an Elemental Apprentice on Lejus Village''s side would temporarily delay Gradas'' war plans.

    "Sir, if I may speak." A man from the crowd stepped forward and bowed to Gradas Meir.

    "Go ahead." Meir said.

    "Sir, the recent incidents in which our soldiers have been killed, perhaps it was due to the Elemental Apprentice?" The man said, straightening. his face had a solemn expression, but Aurelie could see the sort of excitement on his face that came from having a good idea. And going by the topic and the fact that she hadn''t killed any soldiers in Meir (yet), the idea was making her into a scapegoat. She glanced at Gradas, who had the same expression and knew in her gut that the two of them were working together to kill the soldiers off. And she knew why, too.

    ''Their plans conflict with mine, and I guess it''s about time I did something about it.''

 Pickpockets

    The next morning, Farn decided to show Aurelie his tasks as the Village Head''s son. Mainly he looked after the market place, making sure that no fights broke out, no loan sharks, or scammers appeared, and no one extorted money. Basically, they were the policemen of the market.

    While they were there, Farn told Aurelie about the main income of Lejus and Meir Village. It was the forest itself. When Aurelie asked how they managed cut down such gigantic trees without creating a small earthquake each time, Farn looked shocked. Apparently, unlike on Earth, harming the ecosystem on Sorainella was a huge taboo.

    No, the way they made an incoming was through the adventurers. On Sorainella, being an adventurer was a popular profession. Adventurers were practitioners for hire who usually protected merchant''s caravans and hunted Magic Beasts, selling their pelts, meats, and other materials. The rarer the animals, the more money received.

    There were schools whose sole purpose was to teach cultivation and martial techniques and give students battle experience by pitting them against each other in various events. The entirety of Sorainella was ran by the law of the jungle. The strong defeated the weak, survival of the fittest. Someone who was weak couldn''t even lift a finger against someone strong, and the strength difference was made all the greater by cultivation. And even the strong couldn''t really relax, as they were constantly challenged. A bloody world in which killing was not only an accepted action, but a necessity for survival.

    ''Sorainella is starting to sound more and more like my kind of place.'' Aurelie thought, munching on a strange fruit that Farn had given her, after assuring her that it cost close to nothing due to the combination of him being the Village Head''s son and the fruit being extremely common. She started to think of how fun it would be if, after she found a way back to Earth, she convinced Zane and Uncle Chase to come back with her and they came. The only true reason she wanted to go back was because of those two, anyway. Sorainella was where she truly felt she belonged. Here, she had no need to hide her instincts and her knowledge of the darkness that hid behind the civilized mask everyone wore. It was okay to be herself without repressing any part of her personality.

    "Well that sounded overly cheesy, even to me, and I was the one thinking it." Aurelie muttered, jumping off the stone bench she had perched on and looking around. Farn had left to solve the urgent and pressing issue of whether the newer or older barber was better, which was threatening to turn into a brawl. Why any two competing businesses would open up their shops right next to each other was beyond her, but business wasn''t her business, so she decided not to comment.

    Instead, she patrolled the other parts of the market. As she passed through, shopkeepers called out to her and waved. Waving back, Aurelie marveled at Farn''s influence. When he passed though, people waved him over to shoot the breeze, or complain about in laws and illnesses, and Farn always knew what to say and how to say it. It was as though he was close friends with everybody in the marketplace. Even adventurers passing though called him over to tell him stories about their travels. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    And being Farn''s friend instantly gave her the status of a trusted person, even though she undoubtedly looked suspicious wearing a large hood that covered her face, though it''s main reason was to hide her hair and eye color. Apparently, hair dye and colored contacts had yet to be invented, though she could dye her hair with fabric dye if in a pinch.

    It happened as the sun began to slowly descend past the trees and market was closing for the day. Aurelie noticed a rather dirty urchin brush past a customer, who was some kind of noble, and quickly lift his money bag. The customer, to busy yelling at Farn about how bad the quality of this market was (hey, not everyone could be Farn''s friend), didn''t notice, and the urchin strolled past, looking and acting innocent.

    ''Smooth~'' Aurelie thought, grinning and resisting the urge to whistle as she locked her Spirit Energy onto the boy and used it to follow him into the crowd, after waving to Farn. She wasn''t going to ask the boy to give the spoiled little noble his money back (he was a jerk), but she did have a purpose in tailing him. ''Take me to your leader.'' she cackled in her mind. Over the course of the day, she had observed this kind of thing happening many times, and what struck her immediately was that the same person was not struck twice, it was never a regular and polite customer, and it was never any of the struggling shopkeepers. More than that, there was a system to their hits, and their ease and ability spoke of practice. These weren''t just random kids picking pockets to earn a bit more cash. No, it was somewhat like an organized crime racket of pickpockets, one that had an intelligent head.

    A head that she had to meet.

    Before long, the kid ducked into a large dirt hut that was hidden with cleverly placed vines and overgrowth even she would have bypassed. Taking a deep breath, she cut the Spirit Energy tracker on the kid and slipped in as well, not hiding her presence this time. As it was, she walked so quietly and quickly that it took a good minute for anyone inside to react to her. That was enough time to take in the room. A bunch of kids stood around, some talking to one another, others giving the only guy sitting down, as well as the only teenager in the building other than her, the money that they had stole. He was obviously the leader. Walking up to him, Aurelie stopped, waiting for people to notice her. This awareness came as a growing hush and the rustle and clinks of weapons drawn. Instead of responding in kind, Aurelie pulled down her hood and squatted before the leader.

    "I have something I need to talk to you about."

    ~~~~~~~

    The leader of the urchins looked around the room after the Elemental Apprentice that was not an Elemental Apprentice left.

    "What do you think?" He asked, spreading his hands.

    "Objectively, I think what she said was a bad idea. It gives us no benefit. But I still want to do it." A girl spoke up. Many nodded. The leader nodded as well.

    "I agree. We will do as she says. Those who don''t want to, don''t have to take part in this operation, I will not object. But it is about time we got some recognition for our varying¡­ talents, don''t you think?" the leader said. Nobody said anything, but nobody left either, and excitement glittered in their eyes.

 Caught

    Aurelie''s life soon settled down into a set pattern. Everyday, after breakfast, she patrolled the marketplace with Farn. Then, after lunch, she went with Mellana to the library, and studied Martial Techniques. With her memory and control over her body, she was able to master the all the techniques within three days, after which she held classes outside the library where she taught people how to use techniques which they had picked up, doing things like correcting postures and hand positioning. When her help was added with the fact that she was a very approachable and kind person and had no arrogance over her abilities, she instantly became a star in the village, on the level of Farn and Mellana.

    Even people who were just passing through town and adventurers came to her for help with Martial and Cultivation Techniques that they had found on their travels and had trouble with using. This expanded not only her own, but the Lejus and Fadan families'' knowledge.

    The Cultivation Technique that they used now was a low-tier Rare level technique. The gap between levels was huge, and Aurelie was able to tell that from the very first time she attempted to cultivate with the new technique. It increased the amount of World Energy that she gathered exponentially, and the energy that was gathered was already very pure and extremely rich. Aurelie quickly grew to the second stage in the Master Realm, and Farn and Mellana grew to the third stage, and began preparing to attack the bottleneck. Kadaras also began to prepare for a closed door cultivation in which he shut himself off from the world and focussed on nothing other than cultivation, though he did say he wouldn''t do it until the matter with Gradas Meir was resolved.

    Every night, she cultivated until midnight, then snuck off to Meir Village, putting her plan into place, and arranging backup plan after backup plan. After around four hours, she would head back to Lejus Village and cultivate until she was called down for breakfast and started the entire process all over again.

    During the very rare spare moments she was alone, she sent a text to Zane, an update as to what was happening. She knew that there was no way he would be able to read them, but at this point it was a habit, and it was a habit she had no wish to break.

    A week after she had come to the village, she made a decision. After breakfast, she told Farn to go ahead as she had to talk to his parents about something. Worried, Farn looked between his confused parents and his serious friend before slowly nodding and leaving. After using her Spirit Energy to make sure he was gone, she turned to Kadaras and Danadie.

    "Please call whichever one of Mellana''s parents that isn''t on library duty, as well as Mr. Kando." She told them. Kando Lejus was Farn''s uncle, and an adventurer who had returned to the village just three days ago. Suspicious and worried, Danadie got up and moved so fast that Aurelie couldn''t track her with her eyes. Kadaras and Aurelie settled into their chairs, each watching the other.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    ~~~~~~~

    Mellana found Farn right after he finished talking to a few of the regular shopkeepers. Surprised to see her, as she usually spent all morning cultivating, Farn asked her what she was wrong. She put her hands on her hips.

    "I came to ask you that. You''re mom just came and asked my dad to come with her to a meeting."

    Farn paled. "Aurelie said she had to tell them something this morning. She hasn''t come to the market yet."

    Mellana dropped her hands as dread settled onto her face. "Do you think that something happened?"

    Farn set his jaw. "Worst case scenario, Aurelie is working for Meir and she called our parents over to come clean about it. But that''s just worst case. Personally, I don''t think that that''s what happened."

    "Well, we can''t do anything about it." Mellana said, looking grim.

    "Yeah." Farn sighed and both of them looked anxiously at the Village Hall.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie looked at four of the most powerful people in the village. They all exchanged looks and nods and whispered among themselves. There had even been a time when Padan Fadan had run back and forth from the library to get his wife''s opinion on affairs. The four nodded to each other one more time, then Kadaras stood up to deliver the verdict.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie jumped from roof to roof, watching the villagers of Meir. It was night, but half of the village was up, preparing for the ongoing war. There was a freezing cold anger within her veins as she saw all the weapons being prepared and all the training being done in preparation to kill Lejus'' Villagers. She had to hold herself back from going down there and wrecking everything she saw. ''It''s all just a waste of materials anyways.'' she comforted herself. Her thoughts switched back to this morning''s reunion with Farn and Mellana. They had looked at her like she was about to disappear, and then interrogated her when she assured them that nothing was wrong. She grinned at the memory. They had obviously assumed the worst...

    She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn''t realize that one of the roofs was... strange. It looked slightly different, more haphazardly built, but she had been doing this for a week. Humans are creatures that instinctively let down their guard if nothing happens after a while, they can''t always be vigilant. Aurelie knew this, so she was selectively vigilant. She was hyper aware of her surroundings on the ground, but relaxed attention on the roofs, working on her previous principle of ''people never look up''. But she had forgotten that this was a world that operated on the law of the jungle. Everyone was more aware as a principle than they were on Earth. Someone must have noticed her silhouette and reported it, because the next roof she stepped foot on gave way under her feet and she plummeted to the floor (''What is it with me and falling? Probably Phil and Carter. I hate them so much.'' She thought to herself on the way down), landing on her back with a thud. Immediately, she was surrounded by spear tips pointed at her. The last thing she saw was Gradas Meir''s smug face, and then a swift kick to the head rendered her unconscious.

 Interrogation

    Aurelie woke up groaning. The first thing she saw was once again Gradas Meir''s smug face.

    "The last thing I should see when I go to sleep, and the first thing I should see when I wake up is Zane''s face, not your ugly smiling mug." She informed him sleepily. His face distorted in anger and he lashed out, striking her across the face. The blow knocked her sideways, and she fell onto a hard, cold stone floor.

    For the first time, she observed her surroundings. She was in a stone room. It had no windows, and one of the four walls, instead of being stone, had floor to ceiling black iron bars, revealing a stone corridor. There was a wooden bench that she assumed was supposed to double as a bed, and there were many rooms mirroring hers all down the hall, but she, Gradas, and his four generals were the only inhabitants of this dungeon. She looked each of his generals in the eyes, but they all shifted their faces away, not wanting to see the reality of their Village Head hitting a young girl at the Master Realm. Aurelie snorted. ''No help from them, the cowards.''

    She tugged at the shackles around her wrist. They were attached by a chain to the wall, and there was another pair of identical shackles around her ankles. They were long enough to ensure that she could walk around, but made certain that she couldn''t get within two feet of the barred wall. And metal of her shackles were... weird. It was as though they sucked the Spirit Energy out of her, making her a normal girl. Slowly, she got on her knees and examined her shackles. She was right, they were sapping her powers.

    ''Well, different planet equals different materials with different uses, I guess.'' she thought to herself, shrugging mentally. Gradas, noticing her scrutiny of her restraints, got another gloating look on his face.

    "So, you noticed that they were made of Spirit Ore. Well, of course you did, what with you being weaker than usual. So tell me, pretend Elemental, how does it feel to be powerless?" He smirked at her.

    "If you really wanna know, you should ask your lower half. I''m sure it could tell you." She smirked back with a pointed look at the appendage to which she was referring. Rage descended upon his features once more, and he grabbed her by the collar.

    "You have no idea what you''re talking about, little girl, but I could show you, since you seem to wish to know so bad." He hissed in her face, blatantly checking her out. Aurelie''s hands twitched. In this position she could easily wrap the chains around his neck and strangle him. The chains would render him powerless, and he would die. Her eyes flickered to the four standing against the wall. Gradas wouldn''t be able to do anything, but they could. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ''Only if he tries anything.'' She told herself, while discreetly grabbing the chains. Thankfully, nothing happened. Gradas had noticed her eyes flick towards the back and remembered that he was not alone.

    Getting in her face, he instead said, "Tell us the battle plans of Lejus Village, and you may come out of this alive."

    "NEVER." She didn''t yell, but the words were emphatic, punctuated with an acute sense of menace and all her bloodlust. Despite themselves, Gradas Meir and his four commanders shivered at the threat implicit in her tone. Apparently, the fear he felt towards her translated into anger, because she was thrown to the ground, following which a rain of fists poured down upon her. After a minute, he stopped. "Tell me." She shook her head, making the assault start once more.

    Every few minutes, he would stop, ask her if she was ready to talk, and every time she shook her head, causing Gradas to continue. But what shocked the commanders the most was the fact that Aurelie didn''t make a sound. Gradas timed and placed his hits to maximize the pain that she felt, ensuring that she was in a world of agony. And though he was holding back, he was still a ninth stage Grandmaster, which made each blow hold an incredible amount of power behind it. The chains ensured that she couldn''t shield herself with her Spirit Energy forming an invisible barrier around her, and they also made her healing speed slow down to that of someone without cultivation. If they were in Aurelie''s position, they weren''t sure if they could keep quiet.

    An hour later, Gradas glared down at her. "Last chance to tell me, little girl. If you still resist, I''ll make you beg for death."

    Instead of shaking her head as always, Aurelie raised one trembling bloody arm and crooked her finger, before dropping it, not having enough energy to hold it up for long. Gradas smiled, the satisfaction of having broken Aurelie filling his veins. He came closer as she had told him too, and knelt by her side. There was not a part of either her or her clothes that wasn''t stained rust by her blood, and her skin was bruised wherever it wasn''t broken. But despite the intensive injuries and the agony it was to stay conscious, she hadn''t made a single sound throughout. ''But she had still come around,'' he thought, smiling.

    But instead of telling him what it was he wished to know, Aurelie raised her face, and spat a mixture of blood and saliva in his face, catching him on the forehead. The red mixture slid into his eyebrows and down the bridge of his nose. Gradas instinctively recoiled in disgust, making Aurelie laugh, then cough uncontrollably, before she grabbed her ribs as though she was attempting to prevent the broken ones from moving around too much and puncturing her lungs while she coughed. Naturally, this only caused more pain, which made her mirth evaporate, though a smirk still decorated her face, disturbing the still-drying blood on it.

    Furiously, Gradas wiped his face before he backhanded Aurelie onto the path of unconsciousness. As the darkness encroached upon her vision, she heard him say, "We move against Lejus Village in three days. Get as much information as possible out of her until then."

    Then she was blissfully unconscious.

 The Search

    They were in a dorm, filled with a few dozen bunkbeds. The mattresses were hard and uncomfortable. The room was otherwise empty, excluding two people. A five-year-old old Aurelie gestured animatedly to a nine-year-old Zane. He had a small smile on his face as he watched the little girl next to him enthusiastically tell him about her day. Her hair tumbled and swayed around her like a fire as she bounced up and down and just generally moved. Aurelie was always in motion, a little ball of energy and vitality, his only source of warmth in this dark and dreary place.

    If another person saw Zane like this, they would likely have a heart-attack. He usually had an impassive mask and cold, sharp eyes. It was to the point that many believed his facial muscles just didn''t stretch in a way that would accommodate a grin. This Zane was smiling and the look in his eyes was tender and soft. The only one who could change him to that extent was Aurelie.

    Finally, even she ran out of things to say. Crawling onto his lap, she rested her head against his chest. His arms came down, grabbing her so that she didn''t slide off.

    "Hey, Z?" She asked, sounding tired.

    "What is it, Relle?"

    "Will you protect me?"

    "Of course I will. I always will. How could you even ask that?"

    Suddenly, the scene changed they were on top of a building now, a skyscraper. He could see an entire city below him. The tower they were on now was so tall that none of the other buildings could even compare to it.

    But he only paid the scenery the smallest amount of attention possible, his focus on the little girl that stood before him. She was still five, whereas he was now twenty again.

    "Liar." She accused glaring at him. "If you were always going to be there, then where were you that day? Where are you now? You don''t have the slightest clue as to where I am, and you''re going to protect me?" As she spoke, she moved backwards, and as she moved, she aged, until, at the end, she was standing at the edge of the building, a sixteen-year-old once more. Her expression changed from anger to a plea.

    "Help me, Z, please!" She screamed, and then she was disintegrating, turning into fine particles of sand.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    "RELLE!!" He yelled. He couldn''t move, as though his entire body was encased in cement. All he could do was watch as she disappeared, the cruel wind whipping the particles away from him .

    "NO! RELLE!" Zane yelled, jackknifing into a sitting position on the comfy bed he was sleeping on. Taking a deep breath and running his hand through his hair, he swung his feet over the edge of the bed, and walked to the window. It provided a night view of Seattle. They, he and Chase, had jumped onto the first flight to Seattle when Aurelie hadn''t been on the flight she had said she would be on. They couldn''t get in touch with her either.

    When the receptionist told them that she hadn''t checked out yet, they asked to for her room key. It took about a minute of charm on Zane''s part, and they were allowed in. He hoped that they would see her laughing face as she admonished them for being such worrywarts, and then gave them one of her infamous flying tackle hugs. But the room was empty, save for her luggage and clothes, which were strewn about the place, her natural state of disorder. She only ever cleaned ''when she couldn''t stand the mess anymore''. Now the room was spotless, Chase''s slight OCD problem having put everything into order.

    Shrugging, Zane went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, took a short shower, and put on black jeans with a black t-shirt, over which went a black leather jacket. He grabbed the room key card, and walked out of the bedroom into the living room, which was separated from the kitchen by a bar. The TV was on, replaying the news of Senator Fulmann''s death at the hands of the ''Vigilante Assassin'', aka Aurelie. She found the crimes of people high up, went to the victims, or the families of the victim, and asked them how much they would pay her for the said person''s death. Whenever she killed someone, she left a list of their crimes with their bodies, giving her the name of a ''Vigilante Assassin'', though they only found out about the assassin part after Aurelie had gotten pissed at being called a vigilante, and told them so as a p.s. on the list of crimes.

    Chase Winters was watching the TV, his elbows propped up on his knees. He didn''t flinch or look surprised when Zane dropped onto the cushion next to him. Being friends with two assassins had gotten him used to people appearing out of thin air.

    "Anything new?" Zane asked. Chase shook his head wearily.

    "They know next to nothing. Like always. And no one saw anything suspicious. Relle is too good for her own good." Both Chase and Zane refused to believe that something bad had happened to the third member of their trifecta until they saw a body.

    Zane sighed. They couldn''t tell the police that Aurelie was missing, because that would bring up uncomfortable questions as to what exactly she was doing in Seattle, among other things. If they dug into Aurelie''s past... Zane gritted his teeth, knowing what exactly they would find.

    If legal means were out, then they had to use the next option, the one that Zane was more comfortable with. Illegal means.

    Rising from the sofa with a lithe grace, Zane started to walk to the door, making sure to grab two of his guns on the way out.

 The Gears Begin to Move

    "DAD!" Farn yelled, running into the study where his dad was looking grimly at a few papers. Kadaras looked up, along with Danadie, Kando, and Manadet. Farn took a moment to wonder why they were all in his father''s study, before he snapped his attention back to what he had wanted to talk about.

    "Aurelie''s missing! She isn''t in her room, and no one''s seen her!" Farn said, worry lacing through his voice. The adults exchanged glances, then Kadaras sighed.

    "Apparently, Gradas Meir has her." Kadaras sighed, leaning back in his chair and throwing the paper in his hand on his desk.

    "WHAT!?! WHY AREN''T WE GOING AFTER HER?" Farn roared, looking back and forth between all the adults in the room, incomprehension and fury in his eyes.

    "We aren''t doing anything because we can''t do anything. Along with the news that Aurelie was taken, Gradas Meir issued a statement that in three days he will march his troops into our village. We are at war, and I need all my men training and preparing, not attempting half-assed rescue attempts for someone who isn''t even part of Lejus! I''m sorry, son. I know you and Mellana liked her, and we all liked her too, but I can''t justify saving the life of someone I barely know over the entire village. Aurelie will have to deal with things herself." Kadaras said, sighing again.

    Farn was pale. He knew what his father had told him was correct, but he couldn''t just leave Aurelie alone. Without making a sound, unable to make a sound, Farn turned on his heel and walked out the door.

    Sighing for a third time, Kadaras looked at his brother. "Kando, please go ensure that he and Mellana won''t do something stupid and decide to mount a rescue."

    Nodding, Kando left the room.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie came to consciousness with a start. She immediately checked her surroundings. No change. She sighed. She hadn''t expected any, but finding, oh, say, her gun, would''ve been nice. She sighed again. She had no idea how much time was left until the war started, but by the urgency with which she was being beaten, she could guess that it was soon. She smiled as she remembered the astonishment on her torturers faces as they realized that she wasn''t even grunting at their blows. They had no idea that she had been trained to deal with pain that was far worse than what they gave her. They were still villagers at heart, not ruthless and cruel enough to not feel guilt at being forced to brutalize a young girl, one who was far weaker than them in many ways. Aurelie had been taught in a way that ensured even the most brutal of the many sharks swimming in the world''s shadowy underbelly couldn''t take her secrets from her.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    She clenched her teeth and shook her head, once again burying her memories back in the past, where they belonged. Her childhood kept popping up, frequently featured in both her dreams and waking life. Probably because of how similar her current situation was to her past. Even the location was pretty close, though back then the cell had been a metaphorical one.

    Feeling the past creep up on her once more, she cautiously moved into her cultivation position, almost crying at the agony of simply moving her legs into criss-cross-applesauce position. Just because she didn''t make a sound during her torture sessions didn''t mean that they didn''t put her into a world of agony. She immediately began to cultivate. Although the chains pulled the Spirit Energy out of her before it reformed the ball in her abdomen, when the chains were off, she would have the power new power as well. In addition, while the World Energy ran through her to be purified, it healed her a tiny bit. Not a lot, but enough that she could feel a difference after the first few cycles.

    After three hours, her injuries were more than halfway healed, and all her severe injuries were fully healed. Aurelie cautiously stood up, and regretted it. She didn''t fully heal her injuries, as that would show weakness, equivalent to saying that the only way she could deal with the pain was by healing herself. And knowing Grades, he was sadistic enough to post a guard to make sure she wouldn''t be able to cultivate. It wouldn''t break her, but it would make things significantly harder.

    After all, even partially healed, the pain radiating from her injuries almost had her falling back down onto the cold, hard, stone floor and curling into a small ball. Taking a shallow breath (a deep one would render her unable to do anything other than clutch her once broken and now bruised ribs for a minute or two) she clung to the small, natural cracks in the rock walls, and using them she walked the perimeter of her cell. The short walk served as an exhausting workout, and she nearly fell over every few minutes. She was in such pain that she almost passed out at every sudden movement, but she made her daily ''make sure that they didn''t mess with anything while I was passed out'' check. Though she referred to them as daily, she had no idea whether or not actually they were, seeing as how she has no way to keep track of the time.

    When she finished her round, she carefully lowered herself down onto the floor and waited. After a half hour had passed, a sound from the door made her look up. When she saw the people standing at the door, she let out a smile.

    "Well, was I right, or was I right?"

    ~~~~~~~

    Kadaras Lejus looked out the window, watching his men go through training exercises with a grim face. The battle with Meir Village started at noon tomorrow. He cast a long look past the fields, in the direction of the village that he had once considered one of his greatest friends and allies. Farn and Mellana had both tried to mount several rescue attempts, stopping only after they were made to realize that everyone was wasting time and energy having to watch over them as well as worry about the war.Though they had stopped, worry still shone on their faces.

    He thought about Aurelie, and then about Gradas.

    ''Your move.'' He thought to himself, his hands clenching behind his back. He shifted is gaze so that he could look at whatever part of Lejus Village he could see. ''Your move.''

 The War Begins

    Farn solemnly armed himself, double checking that all his knives were razor sharp and that they were securely strapped to him. He wasn''t actually a part of the army, as he had instead been assigned to the reserve troops, but as the next head of Lejus Village, he would ride out to battle with his father, before going off to report to where he had been assigned. The only reason he was riding out to begin with was to raise morale, as the fighters knew that his father would never bring him into a dangerous situation. That was also the reason that Mel was riding out as well.

    An hour later, he was waiting at the agreed location. His father was in front of him, his mother and uncle to his left, Mellana and her parents to his right. The two of them were sandwiched between the adults, for extra protection. A cloud of dust came towards them, which was revealed to be the army from Meir a minute later.

    The two armies had stopped with quite a bit of distance between them, and the border between the villages directly in the middle.

    "Gradas Meir! I have no wish for war between our villages. We can still discuss this, if you turn back now. If you don''t, then war is certain!" Kadaras boomed, using his Spirit Energy to ensure that his voice carried over the opposite army. Gradas Meir stood at the front of the army, with his four generals directly behind him.

    "You were the one who started this, Kadaras! I asked you for access to the falls, but you refused to grant it to my village! You brought this upon yourself!" Gradas yelled back.

    Kadaras looked at the army. It was quite a bit larger than he expected, and he couldn''t recognize some faces. Apparently, to gain an upper hand, Gradas had hired mercenaries. Farn, having come to the same conclusion, bit his lip, looking at Mellana with trepidation, only to find that she was looking at him in the exact same way. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand. She squeezed it.

    At that moment, a loud sound echoed throughout the clearing. It sounded like... Well no one was quite sure as to what it sounded like, as no one had ever heard anything like it. Only Farn knew what it was.

    A gunshot.

    And the only person in the world who had a gun was Aurelie Kanos.

    Turning his head so quickly that he nearly gave himself whiplash, Farn looked up at the source of the sound. Sitting on a tree branch that was just barely on Lejus'' side of the boundary between the villages was Aurelie. She still had the weapon made of black metal raised above her head, the muzzle pointing towards the sky, and her legs were swinging beneath the branch. A wide smile stretched across her face, and it was evident that she had just taken a bath, her skin blood free and hair damp.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    When she was sure that everyone was looking at her, she jumped off her perch and landed softly on the ground.

    "Hi!" She chirped, waving at Gradas animatedly, who looked as though he was having an aneurysm and a heart attack at the same time.

    "Wha-... How...?" He stuttered, his face going from tomato red to the vicinity of plum purple, a vein above his head throbbing in a way that was decidedly not healthy.

    Aurelie began to walk towards him, the smile on her face growing brighter. Farn and Mellana had never seen her like this. She was usually cheerful, but somehow this cheerfulness had an undercurrent of menace and lethality that was chilling. Her smile was the most entrancing and the scariest thing they had ever seen. It was like a train wreck. A horrible thing that you just couldn''t take your eyes off of. Even Gradas twitched for a moment, before he reminded himself that Aurelie was just a second stage Master and a little girl. Then, predictably, he got angry at his fear. By the time she was a few inches away from him, Gradas was bristling with anger.

    "Wondering how I''m here?" She asked. Though she was still grinning, she subtly tightened her grip on the gun. It was the only reason she had dared to get this close to begin with. Fact was, Meir could rip her head off with the same amount of force that a normal human (or was that Earthian now?) could rip a piece of paper apart, and he was way faster than her. But he wasn''t faster than a bullet, especially one from close range. If he gave any indication of moving against her, she would shoot, consequences be damned.

    "Well, it''s a fairly long story involving a good amount of deception, and since you look like you¡¯re about to strangle me, I should probably get out of your way now. But first, let me ask you a question. Why was I in Meir Village that night? What had I been doing there?"

    The question startled Gradas so much that he didn''t attempt to stop Aurelie as she walked away. He had been pondering that, but figured that it was just to create mischief, such as messing up training formations or destroying equipment, and put it out of his mind. But the gleam in her eyes when she asked him the question made him reconsider.

    "Shall I give you a hint? It had something to do with... this." She said, snapping her fingers from where she stood, once again at the border of the two sides.

    "Shut up! You are just attempting to buy time for Lejus aren''t you! Well, it won''t work!" Gradas yelled. He lifted the heavy claymore in his right hand and swiftly brought it down. "MEN! FORWARD!"

    And then all hell broke loose.

 Manipulated

    But it broke out in Meir''s own ranks. When he started to charge forward, only the mercenaries and a handful of his own men had come with him. Realizing that something was wrong, the men behind Gradas stopped and looked back at the majority of the men and women from Meir, who had stayed where they were. Gradas stopped a second afterwards, and then turned to look back, but the one second difference had him five feet away from the ones who had come with him, and about a foot away from Aurelie, who was standing at the border.

    Aurelie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the tree on which she had made her epic entrance, crossing her legs at the ankles. Her terrifying smile softened into one with humor and more than a hint of smugness.

    The opposing army had come in as one unified front, then gradually split into different factions. It was, she thought, kinda like a rocket. It took off as a whole, but then the largest part broke off, followed by the middle part, leaving just the tip to hurtle off into the asteroid belt that was the army from Lejus Village. Her cocky grin grew.

    The main part of the army from Meir Village looked at one another with something akin to amazement. The four commanders, who had stayed behind as well, looked around at the number of people who had stayed with them, then looked at the grinning redheaded teenager leaning against a tree, a chill running through them. They had known that she had convinced more people than just them, but had no idea how many. Their estimates had been maybe twenty or thirty more people. But this was over three hundred! They all immediately came to the same conclusion: ¡®Aurelie Kanos is not to be messed with.''

    Kadaras, as well as his wife, brother, and the Fadan¡¯s, were looking at Aurelie in the same way. To have so many people become neutral in little more than a week, and that too spending only four hours a day in Meir, was incredible. When Aurelie had told them about her plan, which was to tell people that the war was a concept started purely by Gradas Meir and thereby convince them to remain neutral, they had assumed the same thing that Gradas¡¯ commanders had assumed: she would only tell a small amount of people that wouldn¡¯t cripple Meir¡¯s army, but would still help out a bit. This was outside of their expectations, even though they had already known that the girl the children had brought home was anything but ordinary.

    Gradas Meir took in the scene around him, particularly how everyone was stealing fearful glances at Aurelie, and turned towards her with a snarl. She took a few steps back and fell into a hunting crouch, the fingers of her right hand tightening on her gun and shaking her left hand so that a knife fell out of the sheath she wore and into her hand. But Gradas didn''t cross the border, as he knew full well that if he crossed alone right now he would be ripped to pieces by the awaiting army.

    Instead, he turned back and appeared in front of his commanders, having moved so fast Aurelie''s eyes couldn''t track him. She stood up slowly, but the tension in her body didn''t drain. Gradas could flash right back and kill her. And even if Kadaras took revenge for her death, she would still be dead. Instead she slowly backed towards the safety of the Lejus army. Just because she couldn''t see him didn''t mean that Kadaras, who had the same level of power, couldn''t.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Meanwhile, Gradas was yelling at his people, particularly his commanders.

    ¡°What are you doing?!? Do you know that by doing this, all of you will be labeled traitors? And traitors will receive the death penalty, no matter who they are!¡± He directed the last few words to his commanders, who paled, but stood firm.

    Abruptly, his shoulders sagged and he looked defeated and depressed.

    ¡°Why? Why would you do this to me?¡± His voice was trembling slightly, and his face gave the impression that he was about to cry. But no one fell for the act, though the eldest of his commanders, a man named Dansel, did answer the question.

    ¡°We discovered that the war was a concept started by you, and supported only by you and a select few others. We do not support this fight, so we have all decided that we would remain neutral, helping neither Lejus Village nor Meir Village. Many of us have family and friends in Lejus, and we refuse to fight against them. Years of friendship cannot be destroyed by a single conflict.¡± Dansel¡¯s back was ramrod straight and looked his leader in the eye. Next to him, Eronie, Embent, and Gladolius, the other commanders, nodded their agreement.

    ¡°You fools!! What you heard was nothing more than propaganda against me, started by Kadaras! The one who told you was that fake Elemental, wasn''t it? She is an agent of Lejus Village! How could you fall for her lies!¡± Gradas roared, dropping the depressed act.

    Aurelie poked her head out from where she hid behind Kadaras, stuck her tongue out at Gradas, then quickly ducked back to safety.

    ¡°We were unwilling to believe her at first as well, but then she showed us proof of her claims. Miss Aurelie, I return the device you gave to me for safekeeping.¡±

    So saying, Dansel reached into a pocket and threw a sleek, thin, black box through the air. It launched over Gradas and the soldiers and mercenaries who had charged and towards the Lejus Army.

    Aurelie let out a bloodcurdling shriek and ran forward to intercept it, frantically looking over it to make sure there were no scratches.

    Reassured, she turned back and glared at Dansel. ¡°Don''t chuck it like that you idiot! What if you ended up breaking it! Phones are both fragile and expensive! If you, or anyone really, ever break my phone, I swear that I will shoot you.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a pone?¡± Farn asked from where he stood.

    ¡°This,¡± Aurelie told him, holding up the device Dansel had thrown, ¡°is a phone.¡± She emphasized the word due to Farn¡¯s mispronunciation of it. Both Farn and Mellana nodded.

 The Third Ninth Stage Grandmaster

    ¡°Miss Aurelie, if you would please show everyone the evidence.¡± Dansel asked in a quiet voice. Somehow, the lack of volume highlighted the insistence and annoyance in his voice. Nodding, Aurelie unlocked her phone, eliciting a gasp and murmurs of amazement from the armies. She put the volume up as far as it would go, and then played a recorded conversation from the day that she had snuck into the Meir Village Hall.

    ¡°That was smart of you, blaming the killings of our soldiers on the Elemental Apprentice.¡± Though the sound quality was poor, Gradas Meir¡¯s voice came through loud and clear. Both armies were able to hear it too, given the fact that their senses were heightened due to their cultivation.

    ¡°Thank you sir. I came up with it on the spot.¡± Aurelie didn¡¯t know the name of the man who had said this, but the crowd whispered the name ¡®Sanos¡¯, so she took a reasonable guess.

    ¡°Well, having a scapegoat for the murders is a good thing. Continue to purge our ranks of the dissenters who believe in Lejus. They only cause problems, doubting me.¡± Gradas¡¯ voice again. In the crowd, a few people gasped, others glanced at Gradas with horror, and still others had no reaction other than a frown.

    ¡°How cruel, to kill people who know the truth of what a terrible person you are.¡± Despite his words, Sanos¡¯s tone held no accusation, only a cruel amusement. Instead of telling Sanos that he was wrong, Gradas just laughed, confirming his words.

    The recording ended, and everyone turned to look at Gradas. Aurelie closed her phone and smiled her strange, cold, scary smile, one which sent a shiver up the spine of any who saw it. She looked Gradas in the eye and slowly enunciated, ¡°You. Are. Finished.¡±

    Gradas, who had gone pale the instant the recording started to play, flushed a deep red, which quickly headed into plum-purple. He opened his mouth to reply, but the eldest of his commanders beat him to it.

    ¡°Miss Aurelie, please understand that the one to decide that is not you, but the people of Meir Village.¡± He said, consternation coloring his tone.

    Aurelie¡¯s smile grew even scarier, if that was even possible, but she held up her hands as though in surrender.

    ¡°Got it.¡± She said in an easy tone that was a stark contrast to her facial expression. It freaked out quite a few people, and brought the fact that she was an amazing actress back to the forefront of the minds of the leaders from either side.

    But they would deal with the new potential threat later, Dansel thought, turning to his former Leader.

    Gradas was looking at Aurelie triumphantly, his expression smug, as if to say ¡®See, they won¡¯t get rid of me. Everything you did was a waste of your time.¡¯

    Aurelie didn¡¯t even blink; she just continued to smile that bloodthirsty smile. Seeing that, Gradas began to feel a bit of doubt in a corner of his mind, and it was at this moment that Dansel stepped up and announced, ¡°Gradas Meir, you are hereby excused from your duties as the Head of Meir Village and banished. If you ever step foot in Meir Village again, you will be killed on sight.¡±

    ¡°What?!? You can¡¯t do that! You fools, I¡¯m the only ninth stage Grandmaster in this village! If you banish me, then Lejus can easily crush you! You need me!¡± Gradas yelled. A few people looked at each other nervously, recognizing the truth in his words. But Aurelie began to laugh.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t realized?¡± She asked him. Confusion masked his features.

    ¡°Realized what?¡± He asked.

    Ignoring Gradas¡¯s question, Aurelie turned to face the crowd.

    ¡°What he said was a lie.¡± She told them, nodding sagely.

    ¡°No it wasn¡¯t! Or are you trying to say that Lejus Village won¡¯t attempt to attack now that Meir is to be weakened, which is quite obviously a lie.¡± This retort came from one of the men who had charged ahead with Gradas.

    ¡°That part wasn¡¯t the lie. The lie was the middle part. You guys really are pretty inattentive.¡± The latter part of Aurelie¡¯s comment was aimed to the entirety of the Meir Army.

    ¡°Huh? I have no idea what you are talking about. Have you gone insane?¡± This time Gradas re- entered the fray. Ignoring the insult, Aurelie just smiled cheekily.

    It reminded Dansel of the first time he met her, after she had recorded the conversation.

    He watched a red-haired girl slip out of Gradas Meir¡¯s office. Instantly, he thought of the Elemental Apprentice that Sanos had told them about. If she was truly the one who killed their soldiers¡­

    She started to move; producing no noise as she expertly slipped in and out of shadows and made her way to the door. He followed her, attempting to move as silently as she did to keep her from noticing him. He couldn¡¯t stop her, not if she decided to use her true strength, but he could at least keep track of her.

    She didn¡¯t stop in the village, and moved into the forest. He marveled at her speed, agility, and ability to move unnoticed. So this was an Elemental Apprentice! He himself had to use a layer of Spirit Power to cloak his presence.

    When she was a good ways into the forest, he abruptly lost sight of her. He sighed. She had most likely always known that he was following her. He turned back to walk home. Then, out of nowhere, her face appeared right in front of his. Suppressing a scream, he scrambled backwards.

    ¡°Hi!¡± She said with a rather harsh accent, smiling cheekily at him. He managed a small wave back through his surprise.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t an Elemental Apprentice, are you?¡± He asked. The realization made her ability to be a shadow practically god-like.

    ¡°Nope,¡± She replied, making the word pop, ¡°I¡¯m just a lowly second stage Master Realm practitioner. I was born with this appearance. Hey, do both of us a favor and sit out on the upcoming battle between Lejus and Meir Village.¡±

    Amused and amazed by her frankness, he couldn¡¯t help but smile as he asked, ¡°Why exactly would I do that?¡±

    ¡°Because you know Gradas Meir¡¯s character perfectly, and are therefore aware of the fact that this ridiculous war was started by him alone.¡± She stated.

    ¡°What makes you think I don¡¯t believe in him?¡± He asked. At this point, he held nothing but curiosity towards this young girl. He knew she was a threat, she did get rid of those people that Gradas had sent after Farn, but she was just so¡­ interesting. She was a personality, the likes of which he had never encountered before, and it was fun to talk to her, though this was only their first conversation.

    ¡°Well, there¡¯s just this look in your eyes every time he speaks. It¡¯s not a good look either. It¡¯s kinda like you just saw something disgusting. And even though your position is as his advisor, he never asks for your advice and just recklessly charges forward. During the meeting today, you looked surprised when certain topics came up. Meaning, you didn¡¯t have any idea of Meir¡¯s actions until then.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re very observant.¡± He remarked. ¡°But why would sitting out help me?¡±

    ¡°Because you¡¯re tired of being scared. Gradas has stopped cultivating. He¡¯s also stubborn, full of himself, and pretty evil. Add all that together, and you get the idea that he¡¯s gonna kill anyone who shows signs of breaking into the ninth stage of the Grandmaster Realm and could then challenge his power. This poses a danger to you, because you¡¯re at the ninth stage of the Grandmaster Realm. And if he finds out¡­you¡¯re dead buddy.¡±

 Cowardice

    Shock crashed over him in a wave. How did she know? You could only know what stage in which realm someone was in if you were more powerful than, or at the same level of power that, they were. But she had admitted, and his senses told him, that she was a Master Realm practitioner. So then how¡­?

    She smiled at his confusion. ¡°You look panicked every time that he brings up he¡¯s the most powerful in your village. Whenever he acts aggressive towards you, you don¡¯t worry. In combination with a few other things you do, it¡¯s fairly easy to guess what level you¡¯re at.¡±

    He studied her carefully. She was dangerous. Far more than he had originally realized. But the main emotion he had for her was respect. She was weaker than he was. In many ways. But she was able to sneak into their meeting without detection, could move with far more agility and silence than he could ever hope to, and she was incredibly observant. She moved and talked with so little fear, he knew she had some way to ensure that he couldn¡¯t hurt her. And he had a sinking feeling that the only reason he had seen her was because she wished to be seen. Judging by the way he had lost sight of her earlier, he knew she could probably sneak up on him and kill him if needed. But she hadn¡¯t.

    ¡°Even if I sit out, there won¡¯t be all that much of a difference. Gradas has hired mercenaries and has enchantment scrolls.¡± He told her. He wasn¡¯t quite sure when he had decided to help, but the words had tumbled out of his mouth, and he wouldn¡¯t take them back.

    A smug, confident smile. ¡°Just leave all that to me.¡±

    Dansel allowed himself a small smile at his memories. He remembered doubting her slightly that first day. He had even doubted her efficiency until just a little while ago. But looking around, he knew trusting her was the right thing to do. He looked at her, a knowing coming over him. She would become a legend. Not only in Lejus and Meir, but the entire world.

    Dansel walked in front of Gradas Meir. Bare moments had passed since he had asked Aurelie if she was insane, and the eldest commander chose to reply for her.

    ¡°No, she isn¡¯t. The lie she was referring to was the fact that you are not the only ninth stage Grandmaster. I am one as well.¡±

    Having said that, Dansel released his aura. Ever since he had broken through, he had clouded his aura, so that it appeared that he was an eighth stage Grandmaster. It cost quite a bit of mental energy to keep it up all the time. Dropping it felt so relaxing. Like he had been forced to bear a thousand tons of weight, and had just taken it off.

    ¡°I, Dansel Brodac, challenge Gradas Meir for the position of the Village Head of Meir Village.¡±

    The entire field was silent for a few moments, and there was an explosion of noise as everyone verbally released their amazement. On the Lejus side, many people looked at Aurelie with amazement. They weren¡¯t idiots. They knew that it was likely Aurelie who had broken the Meir army apart. And she had even managed to realize that one of his commanders was actually a ninth stage Grandmaster. They shuddered to think what would have happened without her.

    Meir¡¯s side was going crazy as well. They were all yelling and wondering how no one had noticed this development. Even the other three commanders looked at one another with amazement. Gradas looked like he was going to explode. It was a rather common look on him, Aurelie noted. She was the only calm person on the entire field.

    ¡°WELL, Gradas, do you accept?¡± Aurelie had shouted the first word to get everyone¡¯s attention, but returned to her normal volume afterwards. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    At the reminder of the challenge, everyone quieted down and all eyes turned to watch Gradas. Well, all eyes except for the ones of the mercenaries, who had all rested against a tree and began to talk to one another when they had realized a war wasn¡¯t happening, and the lazy eye of one soldier from Meir named Maul, which was looking at a candy corn shaped cloud in the sky. No, wait, the cloud now looked more like a tree.

    Gradas, ignoring the cloud shapes, bared his teeth at Dansel, and then, without warning, he lunged forward and sent a ball of energy at his commander. The onlookers gasped. By attacking without formally accepting the challenge, Gradas had presented himself as a coward, without honor. His already damaged reputation was now crumbling further. Smiling slightly, Aurelie decided to cloud watch with Maul¡¯s lazy eye.

    Dansel dodged the attack easily. He had been expecting something like this to happen. He knew Gradas¡¯ personality and fighting style well. The only reason he hadn¡¯t challenged Gradas before was at first because he had just broken through and was weaker than Gradas, and later because Aurelie had insisted that he wait until now. He held no doubt about his ability to win this match.

    Kando, too, held no doubts about the match. He and Dansel had been friends for a very long time. He knew the other commander¡¯s strength well. But if Gradas decided to use his Enchantment Scrolls¡­

    Just as Kando thought this, Gradas pulled out a scroll. Dansel stopped his attack.

    ¡°That¡¯s right, stay back.¡± Gradas sneered.

    Another round of murmurs went through the crowd. Not only did he sneak attack Dansel, but to also use power that wasn¡¯t his own? Gradas¡¯ good reputation was now non-existent.

    Gradas began to attack, but every time Dansel attempted to block or counterattack, he was warded back with a brandish of the scroll. He knew that the scroll Gradas was holding was a wide area offensive. If he yelled ¡°Activate¡±, not only Dansel but everyone behind him would get hurt as well.

    The spectators watched in horror as Dansel was made unable to move. But just as they began to worry, a voice floated over.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you trust me?¡± Aurelie asked. Her tone was casual, and at first no one was quite sure who she was talking to. She hadn¡¯t looked down from the sky, but it was evident that she was in fact paying attention to what was happening.

    Dansel remembered a smug smile and the words ¡°Just leave all that to me¡±. But these were Enchantment Scrolls, what could she possibly be able to do¡­ ¡°Don¡¯t you trust me?¡±

    Dansel positioned himself so that there were few people behind him, then charged at Gradas. Gradas yelled, ¡°Activate!¡±. Dansel closed his eyes and braced himself for impact¡­ but nothing happened. Dansel opened one eye and peered at Gradas, who had his mouth wide open.

    ¡°Turns out,¡± Aurelie said from her new position at Kadaras¡¯ elbow, ¡°it¡¯s pretty useful to be talented at forgery and thieving. Who would¡¯ve thought?¡±

    She pressed a packet into his arms. ¡°The actual scrolls.¡± She told him. ¡°Everything Gradas has is fake.¡±

    ¡°When did you¡­?¡±

    ¡°Wasn¡¯t me. But the ones who actually did it aren¡¯t going to openly come near such a large group of people.¡± She looked into the forest, and into the eyes of the leader of the urchins. He nodded at her, and then turned and disappeared into the trees. Smiling to herself, she looked back at the fight, just in time to see Dansel hold a blade to Gradas¡¯ throat.

    ¡°I surrender! I agree to leave!¡± Gradas yelled. Dansel drew back, and everyone watched Gradas flee. Dansel then turned to Kadaras.

    ¡°I apologize for the inconvenience. Perhaps we should all withdraw?¡±

    Kadaras nodded. ¡°I believe that is for the best. Tonight Lejus Village is to have a feast. Anyone and everyone in Meir Village is welcome to attend.¡±

    A cheer went up. Just this morning, they had all felt quite a bit of pressure, and many had believed that they wouldn¡¯t come back alive. But now, everyone was fine. No one even had a scratch on them, other than Dansel. It was a miracle. And everyone knew just who was responsible for said miracle. As they walked back to their village, the army kept on glancing at a certain red-haired blue-eyed girl who showed them that fighting wasn¡¯t the only way to win a war.

 Food and Plans

    Aurelie felt like laughing. Who would¡¯ve thought that she, an assassin, actually preached being peaceful! She had saved dozens of lives today, and the knowledge made her giddy with happiness. She was practically skipping as she walked back to Lejus with the army. When they reached the Lejus Village Hall, she began to head up to her room to shower and change. She smelled like blood and the dungeon, a rancid combination.

    ¡°Wait, Aurelie.¡± Farn sounded serious and his face was grave when Aurelie looked back. ¡°I think I deserve an explanation, as does Mellana.¡±

    Aurelie nodded. ¡°I think everybody does. I never told anyone the full plan just in case, and no one was aware of any of the major players in my plan. So, I¡¯ll tell you guys everything at the feast, ¡®kay?¡±

    Farn and, behind him, his parents nodded, and everyone dispersed.

    ~~~~~~~

    Gradas stared at his old home, rage boiling within him. They couldn¡¯t do this to him. He was the best! His gaze redirected itself to Lejus Village. The faint haze of a giant fire and faint echoes of noises and laughter made their way over to where he was standing, hundreds of meters away. He growled low in his throat.

    ¡®Today, I retreated. But tomorrow is another day, and I will have my revenge for this disgrace.¡¯

    He walked away, thinking of how easy it was to kill a second stage Master.

    ~~~~~~~

    The noise was deafening, and things were only going to get louder, seeing as how the villagers from Meir had yet to show up. The instant they had marched back into the village, all the villagers began preparing for this feast. Whoever could cook cooked, whoever could gather supplies and ingredients gathered them, whoever had tables and chairs put them outside, and the carpenters made new ones when all of the tables had been filled. Even the children had been put to work, the older ones gathering berries and the younger ones passing messages from one half of the village to the other. The village was a hive of activity, the only ones not working were the elderly and the soldiers. Whoever was free came to listen to the tale of the battle, and when the truth was told, Aurelie became something of a celebrity. Wherever she went, someone was always offering her something, patting her on the back, or trying to suck up to her. It was to the point that she once had to hide on the roof of the Village Hall for over an hour to get away from it all.

    Now, people were quite a bit calmer, and quite a bit drunk, so her presence no longer caused a mob of people crowd around her to thank her for what she had done. Still, just to be sure, she slunk around, concealing most of her presence. People would be able to see her, but only if they looked for her. Otherwise she was just one of the crowd.

    The tables were loaded with food, none of it familiar. So Aurelie took a little bit of everything and sat down in an out of the way seat and began to eat. She took a little bite of everything and soon came to a realization.

    It all tasted horrible.

    She looked around. Everyone else who was eating was complimenting the food, saying it tasted really good. Meaning that it was probably tasty. Meaning she was the only one who thought it wasn''t. She thought back. Everything she had eaten had tasted pretty bad, but she had thought that it was just regular food that no one liked, the Sorainellan equivalent of green beans or spinach. She quickly got up and went to find Farn.

    "Did you add anything special to the snake stew we ate?" She asked him abruptly.

    "No... why?" He asked.

    "Because this," She gestured at the plate she still held, "tastes terrible."Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    "It tasted fine when I ate it. You should eat it anyway. It clears out any blockage in your cultivation path." Farn told her.

    "Wait, are you saying... this food is healthy? How dare you try to give healthy food to eat! And how dare you eat it! Traitor of teens everywhere!" Aurelie yelled. She took her food seriously.

    "Huh? I don''t understand... what would you eat then?" Farn asked.

    "Um... Junk food. You know, food that isn''t good for you but tastes amazing?"

    "Why would someone eat that? I have never heard of such a thing." Farn replied, frowning.

    "Ha, nice one Farn." Aurelie said, grinning nervously.

    "But I didn''t say a joke." Farn replied.

    Aurelie felt the world closing in on her, the words ''no junk food'' pressing down on her like a thousand tons of weight. No more pizza, or burgers, or fries, or chips. No more soda, or cookies, or brownies, or ice cream. NO MORE DOUGHNUTS!

    She fell to her knees, screaming, "NOOOOOOOO!" with such anguish that Luke Skywalker himself would give her accolades. Farn just looked at her with a strange look on his face.

    Finally, she ran out of air, and knelt there gasping. Having have gotten the drama out of her system, she thought, ''I''m sorry, Z, Uncle Chase. I''ll probably starve before I get home.''

    Then she remembered that the snake stew she had had when she first came was halfway decent. She quickly came to a conclusion. The simpler the food, the better it tasted to her.

    ''Well,'' she thought to herself, ''I guess I won''t have to indulge in any fancy dining while I''m here.''

    Getting up, she began to wander around aimlessly, until a messenger boy, one of the village children, told her to go to the Village Hall. Apparently, the the new Head of Meir Village had come, along with his commanders. Aurelie stretched and started to walk towards her destination.

    In the end, they all ended up in the study. Mellana, her parents, Farn, his parents and uncle, and the four most powerful people in Meir Village, and the leader of the street kids all faced Aurelie as she cleared her throat.

    ¡°I have no idea where to start, so just ask me questions and I¡¯ll answer them.¡±

    ¡°Tell us your entire plan.¡± Eronie demanded.

    ¡°Okay, well my original plan was to spread rumors about Gradas, use his actions to further criticize him, and chip away at any support he may have had. Then, when everyone hated him and he was isolated, I would kill him and make it look like either an accident or like a mob had descended on him and killed him. I hadn¡¯t decided yet.¡± Everyone in the room felt the hairs on the back of their necks rise. Not only at her words and the cold, bloody calculations that she had described, but also at the fact that she said them with such a casually cheerful tone that it felt as though she were saying something mundane. Not only that, but the look on her face was her usual smile. It was as though she were saying ¡®Just this much isn¡¯t enough to have me bring out that smile¡¯. The only indication that she was saying something scary was a cold glint in her eyes.

    ¡°That plan changed when I met Mr. Dansel, of course. The second I realized that he was a ninth level Grandmaster and a good person, I decided to go with the mutiny plan. Have everyone turn against Gradas, then have Dansel take his place.¡±

    ¡°What made you think that I was a good person?¡± Dansel asked.

    ¡°Well I realized that after about twenty minutes of tailing you, but I tailed you all day just to make sure. You have a lot of openings, you know. I had thirty five opportunities to kill you in those twenty minutes alone. The only reason I held off was because I didn¡¯t want to do it in a way that would make it look like Lejus did it.¡±

    ¡°You were tailing me with the intent of killing me?¡± Dansel asked in disbelief. He had never noticed anything wrong, and that was frightening in more ways than one.

    Aurelie shrugged. ¡°If you weren¡¯t, then Meir would be at too much of an advantage. Your death would even the battlefield slightly. Anyways, I just approached anyone who was sympathetic to a change in leadership, including you guys,¡± she gestured at Dansel¡¯s commanders, ¡°and gave them a list of people who could not be told, making it clear that it was their heads on the line if they didn¡¯t listen to me. And so they told their friends, who told their friends, and it eventually ended up with what happened on the battlefield today. I approached the street kids, and convinced them to temporarily migrate to Meir and collect information, and, later, to steal and forge the Enchantment Scrolls. I got myself captured so as to give him something else to focus on, and loosen the security of the scrolls, making the kids¡¯ jobs easier. And¡­ yeah, that¡¯s pretty much it. Any questions?¡±

 Seven Heavens Academy

    Aurelie had become the center of information in the two weeks since the pseudo battle. If you needed to know anything, you talked to her. She was welcome everywhere she went, and all sorts of knowledge flowed to her. This was true not only in Lejus, but in Meir as well.

    Both Kadaras and Dansel relied on her to keep them up to date on any serious problems. She had quickly become a person of power in both villages, able to directly access either Village Head or any of their commanders whenever she wished for it. Kadaras started his closed door cultivation tomorrow, though, so that was going to change.

    In the end, Kadaras ended up postponing his cultivation. This was because of an incident that happened during their final meeting. A man from Meir burst into the room.

    ¡°There are people from the Seven Heavens Academy coming towards Lejus and Meir!¡± He yelled. Everyone jumped up, even Aurelie. The Seven Heavens Academy was one of the best cultivation schools in the entire country. You needed an incredible amount of talent to enter, and everyone who graduated eventually became world-renowned. Actually, Kadaras and Padan had been talking about sending Farn and Mellana to a cultivation school. The two of them had plenty of talent and a school would be able to polish that talent far more than they could. So the arrival of the Seven Heavens Academy was very well-timed. Maybe, if they impressed the representatives, they could send their children there! Farn and Mellana, knowing what their parents had been discussing, were thinking the same thing.

    Aurelie was fairly curious about the school as well. She needed to find a place where she could get strong, and do it fast. The stronger she got, the faster she could get out of here!

    ~~~~~~~

    The people from the Seven Heavens Academy were a young, female teacher, a female student, and a male student. Both the teacher and the male were calm and composed, but the girl was frowning and sneering. Aurelie figured that the reason was due to power. The female student was the weakest, and was therefore feeling insecure about her position, leading her to look down at anyone who was weaker to make herself feel better. Typical behavior on both Earth and Sorainella. She just loved to find similarities.

    The three were seated in the dining hall, along with the rest of the gang. A serving boy walked up to Aurelie, spooning some food onto her plate. She smiled at him.

    ¡°Thank you, this looks very¡­ purple.¡± She made a face at the food. Thankfully, she had the hood of her cloak up so nobody noticed it. She didn¡¯t want the new guys to freak out when they saw her red hair and drag her off to who knows where.

    Unfortunately, one of them wasn¡¯t content with that. The female student, named Cailysi, sneered at her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that it¡¯s stupid to eat with your hood on? Are you a retard?¡± Aurelie wasn¡¯t quite sure what that last word the girl had said was, but it obviously wasn¡¯t a compliment. She leaned back in her chair, tilting her face so that her mouth was visible, and smirked. She had more ways to retaliate to an insult than fighting, death, and elaborate plans. In the end, she was still a high school girl. She could be incredibly catty if the occasion arose. Kadaras stiffened, watching the proceedings. He didn¡¯t like the girl or her attitude, but in the end, she was a student of the Seven Heavens Academy. If they offended her, and she was someone important or knew someone important, it could cause the entire school to attack their village. If Aurelie decided to do something, then he would need to stop her. He ignored the niggling doubt in the back of his mind which asked whether or not he could actually stop her.

    Cailysi jumped across the table and charged at Aurelie, who grabbed the back of her chair and used it to flip herself over it, landing on her feet behind it. She was shocked. Cailysi¡¯s speed revealed that she was at least a sixth stage Grandmaster. She could barely even see the other girl, and had been reacting on pure instinct when she had flipped. The same instinct which was now telling her to jump to the right. She did so. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, and she was panting. Although her instincts were serving her well now, they weren¡¯t always absolutely reliable, and she wasn¡¯t sure at all whether or not she would be able to keep up for much longer.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Right as she thought this, she made a basic error. She was so focussed on the fight, she disregarded her surroundings and slid on some food that had been thrown to the floor when Cailysi jumped over the table, landing in an empty chair. She quickly curled into a ball, caressing the ring on her finger, a present given to her by Kadaras. The ring glowed and one of her combat knives solidified in her hand.

    But the blow she was waiting for never came. When she opened her eyes, Cailysi¡¯s teacher was holding her pupil back, a disapproving look on her face.

    ¡°But Mrs. Dreslin¡­¡± She whined. She knew better than to struggle against her teacher¡¯s grip, though, remaining motionless. The boy had stood up as well, glaring at Cailysi. Aurelie sat up, and her hood promptly fell down. She immediately pulled it back up. But it was too late. All three of them stared at her. She sighed. No point in keeping her hood up now, so she pulled it down and let them openly stare.

    ¡°You aren¡¯t an Elemental Apprentice.¡± Mrs. Dreslin said, staring at her.

    ¡°No, I was born this way. It usually causes a lot of problems if other people see my hair and eye color, so I usually wear a cloak when I¡¯m near people who don¡¯t know.¡±

    The teacher nodded then asked, ¡°Where are your parents?¡±

    Aurelie shrugged. ¡°I have no idea and, quite frankly, I don¡¯t care.¡± It wasn¡¯t a lie. She hadn¡¯t met her parents after¡­ after. But she did go on and tell the teacher the same story she told everyone else, without all the grammatical mistakes this time, for the simple reason that she wanted to see whether or not she could get away with it. Kadaras and the others had bought it, but honestly speaking, Lejus Village was fairly secluded, and didn¡¯t have as much information. She wanted to see if she could still tell the same fib outside of this village. If it didn¡¯t work, and they found her suspicious, then she would probably have to shoot her way out.

    Luckily, it didn¡¯t come to that. The teacher just nodded. ¡°The world is indeed vast. The existence of another continent is not impossible.¡±

    ¡®Thank god satellite technology doesn¡¯t exist yet.¡¯ Aurelie thought in her head.

    Mrs. Dreslin looked at the Heads of both villages. ¡°The reason we have come is that the academy has decided to scout children from all over the country. They will battle against each other, and the top forty children can enter the academy. The only requirement is that they be twenty years old or younger. Two children will be accepted from each village. Please make the necessary arrangements.¡±

    Kadaras smiled. ¡°Actually, our two most powerful are right here. Farn, my son, is a fourth stage Master Realm practitioner, and Mellana is also a fourth stage Master Realm practitioner. Both of them are nineteen.¡±

    Mrs. Dreslin nodded, a surprised look in her eyes. Frankly speaking, the two before her were the most powerful kids she¡¯d met in the scouting mission. Being able to get such a high cultivation without using alchemy pills or other cultivation boosting materials at such a young age was incredible. She had a good feeling about them.

    Meanwhile, Dansel was shaking his head. ¡°In our village, there is no one who can fight Farn and Mellana, forget other kids at the same level of power. I will send the most powerful kid from my village, but I would also like to use one of Meir¡¯s slots to send Aurelie. She is a third level Master Realm practitioner, and is¡­ how old are you?¡±

    ¡°Sixteen.¡± Aurelie replied. She was rather surprised. She had been under the impression that her friends were her age. They didn¡¯t look nineteen¡­ and then she realized that none of them did. Even their parents looked really young. She had only ever seen someone old at the festival, and even then there were very few. A seed of an idea took root in her head, and she looked up to confirm it. What she saw was that shock had spread across the room, with everyone staring at her open-mouthed at her. She looked back, confused.

    ¡°No wonder you would send her, such a young but powerful girl.¡± Dreslin said, clearing her throat. Dansel looked sheepish. ¡°I had no idea about her age. Actually¡­¡± and he went on to recount the events leading up to the battle, and Aurelie¡¯s manipulations. When he had finished, the three newcomers were back to staring at Aurelie, who grinned back at them.

    ¡®I do believe that this is going to be a most interesting few weeks.¡¯ Dreslin thought to herself.

    ~~~~~~~

    Gradas looked around at the dead bodies on the forest floor, littered with the corpses of Spirit Beasts, which were animals that could also cultivate. He then looked at his hands, feeling the power coursing through him and began to laugh. He had done it, a forbidden method that raised his strength to that of an Elemental Apprentice. It had required the heartblood of one thousand and one Spirit Beasts and that of an infant child, but he had done it! Now, no one in either Meir nor Lejus Village could touch him. He could easily kill that insolent little girl, and then take over both villages!

    He cackled, the images of bloody corpses and palaces of luxury filling his head.

 Death of a Loved One

    Three days later, Aurelie finally got the chance to ask the question she had.

    ¡°What is the effect of cultivation on age?¡± She asked, hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed at Farn and Mellana. The two paused, looking at each other. The three of them were currently walking on a small path around the village. It was secluded enough that they had privacy, but they were also within shouting distance of the village. It had been decided that the they would leave along with Mrs. Dreslin sometime next week, along with another eighth level Apprentice named Gallo, who really held no high hopes of getting in.

    ¡°Well¡­ cultivation slows down aging. When you¡¯re an Apprentice there really isn¡¯t any discernible impact, but a Master ages one year in the space of ten years, a Grandmaster ages one year in the space of fifty years, and once you¡¯re an Elemental Apprentice, it slows down to the point that it practically stops. That¡¯s another reason why the barrier between Elemental Apprentices and Grandmasters are so significant.¡± Mellana explained. ¡°There¡¯s even a saying, ¡®The youngest cultivators are the most dangerous.¡¯¡±

    Aurelie sighed. She figured it was something like that. She wondered how surprised Zane and her Uncle Chase would be if she went to visit them in five years, looking exactly the same as she did when she left¡­ ¡®No! I will get back way before then! Don¡¯t even think about it, Aurelie!¡¯

    And in that one vital moment, she was distracted. Her guard went down. And he struck. No one was even aware of anything happening. There was a black shadow that flitted between Aurelie and Farn, a hand around their mouths, used to drag them backwards with an irresistible force. And a sick crunch, the sight of a pair of lifeless eyes and Mellana¡¯s twisted, broken neck.

    ~~~~~~~

    Kadaras read the papers in front of him, then leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers before him. Kando, standing in front of his brother, looked rather grim as well, the same look he had had when he delivered the report.

    ¡°What is that man planning?¡± Kadaras asked no one in particular. Someone had seen a man matching Gradas Meir¡¯s description kidnapping a small child from a village. When he was followed, they saw a massacred clan of Spirit Beasts lying on the ground. The information was spread by those villagers, and it eventually reached Meir and Lejus. Dansel, sitting next to Kadaras, also had a grim expression.

    ¡°I should have killed him during the duel.¡± Dansel muttered.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°That would only ruin your reputation, the same way his was ruined during the fight. He surrendered, you couldn¡¯t kill him, it is against the rules of a duel to do so. No one blames you for your actions, and you shouldn¡¯t do so either.¡± Kadaras responded. They heard a noise by the door, and everyone looked up, seeing Mrs. Dreslin in the doorway. Everyone in the room stood up, bowing. They had learned that first day that Cailysi was a sixth stage Grandmaster, Planos (the male student) was an eighth stage Grandmaster, and their teacher, Mrs. Dreslin, was a second stage Elemental Apprentice.

    ¡°We apologize if we disturbed you, we were discussing a few problems around our village, there is no need for a guest to get involved.¡± Kadaras said, straightening.

    ¡°I normally wouldn¡¯t, but I believe I know what is going on. If I¡¯m not mistaken, then you may be in big trouble. Does the report state how many Spirit Beasts were killed and the age of the child?¡± She asked.

    Kadaras looked down. ¡°The child was two months old and the Spirit Beasts were ¡®too numerous to count¡¯.¡±

    ¡°I see. If my guess is correct, then he is attempting to use a forbidden method to become an Elemental Apprentice. And when he succeeds, he will likely come back here to retake his village, and maybe take over this village as well.¡± She delivered the news calmly and with little ado, but the faces of everyone in the room grew grim.

    Just as they were digesting this new development, Mrs. Dreslin¡¯s head snapped up.

    ¡°Another Elemental Apprentice just entered the village.¡± They all jumped up, preparing for an attack¡­ but then the teacher frowned. ¡°The Elemental Apprentice left.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Why?¡± Dansel asked. ¡°Everyone he hates is¡­¡± His eyes widened. Kadaras, Padan and Kando had connected the dots at the same time.

    They burst out of the meeting room and grabbed the nearest villager by the arm.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Aurelie?¡± Kadaras asked.

    ¡°I, uh, I saw her go onto that little forest path with Farn and Mellana. Why? What¡¯s wrong, sir?¡± The villager answered, startled by the desperation and panic in both Kadaras¡¯ voice and facial expression.

    Upon hearing that Aurelie was with their children, Kadaras, Danadie, Padan, and Manadet all grew pale and ran at their fastest speed into the forest. Due to their speed, they came across Mellana¡¯s body fairly fast. Taking one look at her daughter¡¯s dead body, Manadet collapsed and began to sob, screaming. Padan stumbled towards Mellana, gathering and cradling his child in his arms and curling his upper body over her protectively. Danadie sat next to Manadet and hugged her friend, though she was crying herself. Kadaras placed a hand on Padan¡¯s back, while Kando stood off to the side, his knuckles white and teeth gritted. All of them were overwhelmed with memories of her laughing, smiling, crying, angry, all of her jokes, kind deeds, and just¡­ her. Mellana. The beautiful, strong girl who would never be able to do any of those things again.

    Padan raised his head and roared, ¡°GRADAS!!!¡± in a heartbroken, rage filled voice.

 The End

    The figure dragging Farn and Aurelie stopped suddenly. Due to the fact that the only way they had been dragged by a hand around their mouths, and had no other attachment to the figure, they went flying, landing a few feet away from the man.

    ¡°What, no smug riddles this time?¡± A smug voice asked. Aurelie twitched. She knew that voice.

    ¡°Gradas Meir?¡± Farn asked, sitting up.

    Gradas smirked. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve returned, and as an Elemental Apprentice this time. I¡¯ll finish what I started, right after I take care of you, little miss faker.¡±

    ¡°This is between us, Meir. Why is Farn here?¡± Aurelie asked.

    ¡°Because, once I¡¯ve killed you, I think I¡¯ll kill him and show his pathetic dead body to Kadaras Lejus.¡± Gradas sneered.

    Aurelie smirked. ¡°Or is it that you were afraid that I would be able to beat you, and brought him along to handicap me?¡±

    Gradas¡¯ features twisted and he moved to attack as Aurelie had expected. She immediately took out her gun, waiting for his approach¡­ and then, next to her, Farn went flying. She whipped around, watching as Farn crashed into a tree and lay there, motionless. She could still see his chest rising and falling, but the rhythm was erratic. She wasn¡¯t sure how much longer he would stay alive. Shock filled her. If that was the damage from a single strike, then she knew she was in big trouble. Her grip on the gun tightened, and she turned back around slowly.

    Gradas was still smiling smugly at her, waiting for her to scream. Instead, she raised the same black metal object she had used to announce her presence. Then it emitted the exact same loud, ear shattering noise. Then he felt something slam into his chest.

    Aurelie watched as Gradas staggered backwards, and then straightened, rubbing the spot in which she had shot him. They were both shocked. Aurelie was amazed at the fact that although she had just shot him, he was relatively unhurt. Gradas was incredulous at the fact that the girl who he had deemed as powerless in front of his new strength could actually cause him pain. She was far more dangerous than he had originally judged her to be. She needed to be killed. Now.

    Sensing the shift in Gradas¡¯ mood, Aurelie shot him again. She wasn¡¯t expecting this one to do any major damage, but hoped it would slow him down. Not waiting to see if the bullet did it¡¯s intended job, she dashed into the forest.

    Dodging tree branches and roots as she ran through the foliage at full speed, Aurelie couldn¡¯t find any signs of Gradas following her. Ducking behind a tree, she calmed her breathing and heart rate, blending in with the forest and erasing her presence. Her mind whirled. Gradas was an Elemental Apprentice. The first thing she needed to do to even consider taking him down was find out what element he controlled. She thought back to when he attacked Farn. Aurelie had felt something then. Wind. Gradas controlled the air. Her mind immediately provided a list of the traits of an Air Elemental.

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Fast</li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Specialize in hidden sneak attacks</li>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">Can hide easily but are hard to hide from</li>

    </ul>

    There was no way he didn¡¯t know where she was. Her speed couldn¡¯t match his own, even before he broke though. Added to his now heightened senses, and the characteristics of an Air Elemental, she knew that he knew where she was. There could only be one possible reason as to why he hadn¡¯t shown himself, and that was to toy with her. He wanted to see her panic, flounder about as she wondered where he was. So, instead, she just sat down and raised her awareness levels as far as they could go.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    It was only due to this that she could partially dodge the first attack, when it came. But that slight hit still had enough strength to send her flying. She smashed into a tree, and she both felt and heard a few ribs crunch. She immediately raised her gun and tried to recover enough to attack back, or at least defend herself.

    But it was no use. Gradas hit her again before she could even begin to recover. She went flying again, crashing through a tree, and smacking into the one behind it. She wasn¡¯t even able to register the pain from her newest injuries before she was sent flying again. She was helpless, unable to do anything as she was tossed all over the forest, completely at Gradas¡¯ mercy.

    Finally, she ended up in the very same place she had run from. She could see Farn out of the corner of her eye, still passed out against the tree. It felt as though the majority of the bones in her body were broken, and she had lost at least a quarter of the total amount of blood in her body, in her opinion. Gradas stood above her, smug. He didn¡¯t even have a scratch on him, she noted with a scowl.

    ¡®I refuse to die without at least putting a scratch on him.¡¯ She vowed to herself. Then Gradas got on top of her, put his hands around her neck, and squeezed.

    She gasped, clawing at his hands, helplessness welling up within her. What could she do? Her gun didn¡¯t harm him, so there was no way her knives would do anything. His skin was like diamond, he likely couldn¡¯t even feel her nails, they were inflicting so little damage. She felt tears begin to form. Was there really nothing she could do?

    She wracked her brain for something, anything, that would help her now.

    If you imbue your Spiritual Energy into your weapon, the weapon is upgraded¡­ and your attacks become fiercer.

    Farn¡¯s words from when she first went to the library rang in her head. She had put her gun away during Gradas¡¯ previous attacks, afraid she would either lose it or shoot herself, but now she took it back out. She ignored her pain, her fear, and her anger, centering herself. She relaxed her body, closing her eyes, focussing on the last two bullets in the gun, imbuing them with her Spirit Energy.

    The first shot hit the center of Gradas¡¯ forehead, penetrating his skin and cracking his skull before losing energy and dropping onto Aurelie¡¯s stomach. Gradas screamed, rearing up and letting go of Aurelie¡¯s neck. She drew a shaky breath, lowering her arms and taking aim again. The gun had a powerful recoil now that she had imbued it with her energy. She had nearly let go of it after the previous shot.

    The second bullet hit the exact same spot that the first had, penetrating the skull and the brain. Gradas stiffened, and then fell backwards. Aurelie put away her gun, and lay there. It was over. Gradas was dead. She was so tired, and everything hurt. Surely no one would mind if she rested.

    ¡®No! As cliche as this warning is, if you rest now, you¡¯ll die!¡¯ A small voice said.

    ¡®Shut up.¡¯ Aurelie snapped at it. ¡®A little sleep never hurt anyone. Besides, I don¡¯t have much of a choice in the matter¡¯

    She felt her strength ebbing out of her, along with her blood. She had multiple broken bones and lacerations all over her body.

    She sighed to herself. ¡®Great, after all that, I¡¯m still gonna die.¡¯

    And then everything went black.

 Deceased

    Zane sipped at his water, coolly watching the people gyrating on the dance floor.

    It was a Saturday night, and the club was busier than ever. The lights were flashing and the music was pounding. The two bartenders were the busiest ones there, mixing drinks and cocktails and sending them out in record time, but looking as though they were relaxed the entire time, with an easy smile that never wavered as they sucked their patrons¡¯ wallets dry.

    The next busiest were the waitresses. The sultry women wearing tight, revealing clothes and cakes of makeup wove their way through the crowd skillfully, smiling sensuously as they handed out drinks. They invited the eyes of men as light bulbs attracted moths, with their fluttering eyelashes and innocent faces. But if a man, or woman, ever decided to do more than just look, then the third busiest people around, the bouncers, were waiting for them.

    Zane, for his part, never went up to the waitresses. He didn¡¯t even glance at them. He had spent sixteen years with Aurelie, after all, and his best friend was far more beautiful on her worst day than these women were on their best.

    Zane finished his water, and then sat back, continuing to observe the dancers. Somewhere in the throng of people, his target was hiding. And Zane knew that the other man wouldn¡¯t be able to get away. He wouldn¡¯t let it happen.

    After all, Zane was a very patient hunter.

    ~~~~~~~

    Jackson Alderman partied the night away, enjoying the useage of the cash he had obtained from abducting that red-haired girl. Poor thing was probably full of holes from the way those men had shot at her. Well, no matter. Whether or not she was alive was of no concern to him, now that he had his pay.

    Still, it was a shame. She¡¯d been so beautiful¡­ No other woman he had met since seemed all that pretty. That didn¡¯t stop him from taking his pick from the women that were throwing themselves at him. Well, woman. He wasn¡¯t butt-ugly, but he wasn¡¯t all that handsome either.

    The two of them left the club at two o¡¯clock in the morning, drunk and stumbling to the street to hail a taxi and go back to his place. The woman was giggling non-stop and pressing her breasts against his arm. Jackson eyed the melons and visibly gulped, lust lighting a fire in his eyes.

    Then, out of the shadows, a voice came. ¡°Hello.¡±

    Jackson looked over. There was a person standing so that his face was in shadow, but the rest of his body was in the illumination of the streetlight. It was such a classic movie scene, Jackson began to let out a drunken chuckle. His companion just continued to giggle.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Miss, could I have a word?¡± The stranger asked, unperturbed by the reaction they had.

    The lady skipped over to him, singing, ¡°Okay!¡± When she got to him, she saw his face, she grinned lasciviously. ¡°Hey you¡¯re pretty handsome. You wanna¡­¡±

    She didn¡¯t explicitly state anything, but, as though her meaning weren¡¯t clear enough, she ran her tongue over her lips and moved so that her body was pressed against his arm. He looked at the woman with distaste, but it didn¡¯t show in his tone as he pulled her to one side and told her something. She hummed in agreement and hobbled off.

    ¡°Hey, where¡¯s she going?¡± Jackson asked, annoyed that his female companion for the night had run off.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind that. Instead, I think that it¡¯s a far better idea for you to focus on me.¡± The stranger¡¯s voice took on a far colder and more bloodthirsty tone. A formless killing intent permeated the air. Jackson felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to rise. He shivered, cowering.

    The stranger strode forward. ¡°You participated in the kidnapping of a red-haired teenage girl.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question.

    Jackson¡¯s blood ran cold and he backed away from the stranger. ¡°W-who are you?¡±

    ¡°A friend. A brother, really.¡± He answered. While he said this, the unknown man pulled a gun out from the waistband of his jeans and pointed the weapon at Jackson¡¯s temple. Jackson froze, his mouth going dry.

    ¡°Who hired you?¡± He asked, a steely glint in his eyes, as if to say, ¡®This isn¡¯t a joke. I will shoot you.¡¯

    ¡°A-Arno Blunt. It was Arno Blunt! He organized the entire thing, after getting the orders from some other guy. But I don¡¯t know who that other guy is!¡± Jackson cried, panicking. He had no loyalty to them. They weren¡¯t even friends, so why would he lose his life to protect them?

    ¡°And the others?¡± The man asked.

    ¡°We didn¡¯t tell each other our names!¡± Jackson cried. They hadn¡¯t, not trusting the others enough.

    ¡°Describe.¡± He demanded. Nodding, Jackson complied, describing the other men to the best of his memory.

    When Jackson had finished, the man turned on his heel and walked away. Jackson sighed in relief, his shoulders sagging.

    ¡°Hey!¡± The unknown man called.

    Jackson looked up.The sound of a gunshot and a sharp cry followed soon after.

    ¡°That was for laying your filthy hands on Relle.¡±

    ~~~~~~~

    Zane sat in his car with a sigh. He picked up his laptop from the passenger seat and opened up a folder. In it were multiple profiles of several men. If Jackson saw this he would be amazed. The profiles were of the other men who had participated in Aurelie¡¯s kidnapping. All of them were stamped with a DECEASED watermark. Zane added the watermark to Jackson¡¯s profile as well.

    Then he looked at the remaining clear profile. It was Arno Blunt¡¯s profile.

    Zane backed out of his parking space and drove off.

 Dreams

    The first thing Aurelie noticed was that she was back in her room at Farn¡¯s house.

    Getting up, she inventoried herself. The first thing she noticed was that her ring, and, therefore, her weapons, was lying on a chest across the room. Then she took note of her injuries. A pounding head, and she felt incredibly weak, as though she had lost copious amounts of blood. However, there were no visible injuries anywhere, and she couldn¡¯t feel any of the stiffness that came with being injured. She couldn¡¯t even remember how she had come to be here. Putting the strangeness of all that out of her mind, she hobbled to the ring.

    It was made of a deep green crystal, which appeared to be jasper. It wasn¡¯t though. It was a mineral, and an incredibly useful one too. It was a storage ring. It could hold ten cubic meters of space within it.

    Aurelie hadn¡¯t put all her weapons in it, leaving one gun in an ankle holster and a combat knife in the sheath on her arm. But everything else was in the ring. In particular, she liked that she didn¡¯t have to wear the throwing knives all the time. They required that her hair always be in a bun, and she was bored of those. It was nice to have the opportunity to change up her hairstyle from time to time.

    Just as she was smiling about that, she heard footsteps. She recognized them. Turning towards the door, she smiled at Kadaras, Kando, Danadie, and Mrs. Dreslin as they quietly slipped in. The three of them looked amazed to see Aurelie up and walking around.

    Aurelie was already feeling very tired, though, so she stumbled back and sat on the bed.

    ¡°Hi!¡± she greeted them. ¡°What happened? Why do I feel so weak?¡±

    The adults looked at one another, silently agreeing to not say anything without first checking up on her condition.

    ¡°How do you feel, dear?¡± Danadie asked, concern obvious in her voice.

    ¡°I feel fine, other than the aforementioned weakness. Which you guys are suspiciously avoiding talking about.¡± She grumbled, rolling her eyes.

    ¡°The weakness is expected, as you lost a lot of blood. But you don¡¯t feel any discomfort? Usually, it feels extremely uncomfortable when a practitioner has used up all their Spirit Energy, as you have. There¡¯s no way you didn¡¯t notice it.¡±

    A stricken look briefly flashed across Aurelie¡¯s face as she looked at them. In fact, she hadn¡¯t noticed it. She had only been a cultivator for a short period of time. Waking up with no power had felt so natural and normal, she hadn¡¯t questioned it.

    ¡°Of course I noticed it. But since I already knew about why I felt that way, I didn¡¯t feel the need to mention it.¡± She said nervously. But they didn¡¯t notice her fidgeting, accepting the plausible explanation.

    ¡°Okay, now tell me what happened.¡± Aurelie added. The avoidance of the topic hadn¡¯t put it out of her mind at all.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    The four looked at one another, and then Kadaras stepped forward. He wondered what to say, how to break it to her in such a way that she didn¡¯t break down. Taking a deep breath, he started, ¡°Gradas Meir¡­¡±

    But it turned out that that was all he needed to say. When Kadaras forced that name out of his lips. Aurelie stiffened and gasped, as though someone had dumped a barrel of cold water on her. Images and memories cascaded through her mind.

    ¡°He¡¯s dead, right?¡± She asked, her voice a whisper.

    ¡°Yes, he is.¡± Kadaras confirmed.

    ¡°Farn?¡± She asked, her voice going even softer, her shoulders hunched inwards as though afraid of the answer.

    ¡°He hasn¡¯t woken up yet, but he¡¯s otherwise fine.¡± A tremor could be detected in Kadaras¡¯ voice, worry for his son temporarily breaking his composure.

    Aurelie took a deep breath, and asked the question that she already knew the answer for, hoping against all hope that she had seen wrongly. ¡°Mellana?¡±

    A visible tremor went through Kadaras, Danadie, and Kando. Even Mrs. Dreslin looked saddened. The reaction to the question answered her query as much as the whispered, ¡°She passed away.¡±

    Aurelie flopped down on the bed, closing her eyes and focussing on her breathing, holding her grief at bay. The others crept out of the room careful not to disturb her.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie wasn¡¯t sure when, but she had fallen asleep.

    She knew this because she began to dream. Well, it was more a memory than a dream, one from when she had been a terrified child who was in the process of being molded into a terrifying killer.

    ¡°Hey did you hear? Another two died today. One was killed by Karen.¡±

    Aurelie shut her eyes and plugged her fingers in her ears. She didn¡¯t want to hear this, didn¡¯t want to know anything about what the older girls in the room thought. It was night, the lights were already put out. The tiny room had no beds, no blankets, no pillows, nothing which denoted that it was the sleeping place of more girls than the feeble walls could comfortably hold.

    ¡°Of course Karen killed one, but what happened to the other?¡± One of the other girls asked.

    ¡°Got sick and died.¡± The first girl answered, and though Aurelie couldn¡¯t see her, she knew she was shrugging nonchalantly.

    ¡°What a loser.¡± A third girl commented, disdain and contempt clear in her voice.

    The little red-haired girl fought down the bile that rose in her throat, and the tears that rose in her eyes. ¡®How could they just treat human lives like that?¡¯ she thought. But she didn¡¯t say anything, even though Dana, the girl who had caught a disease and died, was a friend. She had already lost so many friends, the sense of loss was beginning to lessen. That scared her.

    ¡°Speaking of losers, why hasn¡¯t anyone offed the little waste of space yet?¡± Aurelie could feel multiple sets of eyes lock in on her, drilling their eyes into her back. She resisted a shudder, knowing that if they knew she was still awake, they would pounce.

    ¡°We can¡¯t, she¡¯s got a protector. You know that hot guy, the leader of the boys, Zane? He¡¯s taken her under his wing. We hurt her, he¡¯ll come after us.¡±

    A whistle. ¡°Wonder how that happened? And is Karen scared of him too?¡±

    ¡°Of course not. Rumor has it that Karen¡¯s got a crush on Zane. She doesn¡¯t want to get on his bad side by murdering his little pet.¡±

    ¡°Really? I heard¡­¡± Aurelie stopped listening, finally detaching herself from the conversation. She knew she was the weakest. She knew the only reason she was still alive was because of Zane. But she was only five years old, what could she do?

 Blame

    Aurelie was the first person Farn saw when he opened his eyes. She was holding his mother¡¯s hand and gingerly walking around the room. He quickly realized that he was in his bedroom.

    A groan slipped out of him as he tried, and failed, to sit up. It attracted the attention of the other occupants of the room. His mother was at his side immediately, utilizing the speed of an eighth stage Grandmaster. Aurelie hobbled over as fast as she could, which wasn¡¯t all that fast, all things considered.

    ¡°Gradas Meir¡­ Where is he? What happened? And Mellana¡­ is Mellana alright?¡± He gasped, fear still rampant in his eyes.

    Danadie paused. She didn¡¯t want to upset her son by telling him of Mellana¡¯s death immediately, so she used the same diversion tactic.

    ¡°How do you feel, Farn?¡± She asked instead. She used her Spirit Energy to probe him for any internal injuries that Mrs. Dreslin missed.

    Water Elementals, such as the visiting instructor of the Seven Heavens Academy, could use their powers to manipulate blood flow, maximizing and even speeding up the healing process. It was why Aurelie had no wounds when she woke up, and Farn had none now. Danadie was merely checking again when she probed.

    ¡°I feel fine. But I shouldn¡¯t be. I remember¡­¡± A shiver wracked him as the last moments in his memory hit him. He was fighting for breath, with pain searing his every nerve ending. He could faintly hear explosions and loud thuds coupled with Meir¡¯s cold laughter, and was very worried for Aurelie. He had hoped that Mellana was safe, and that she ran to go get help.

    Now, seeing that they were alright, he was utterly confused. So, once again, he asked, ¡°What happened to Gradas Meir? And where¡¯s Mellana? I thought that she would be here, waiting for us to wake up.¡±

    Aurelie paled. She¡¯d suspected that Farn hadn¡¯t seen Mellana¡¯s body, but the confirmation still made her start. Shaking, she sat down, not listening as Danadie outlined the circumstances in which they had been found, wondering how they would calm him down when he heard the news.

    She¡¯d been their friend for a month now. She was also very observant, and, due to Zane¡¯s utter obliviousness, a hopeless romantic. She had noticed very quickly that Farn and Mellana liked one another. They weren¡¯t dating, from what she could tell, but they absolutely had feelings for one another that were most definitely not platonic, though neither knew the other felt the same way. The fact that Mellana had died without knowing Farn¡¯s feelings would only make thing worse. She knew that the knowledge of her death would devastate him. She felt like crying just thinking about Zane dying. Farn¡¯s pain would be much greater than her own.Stolen story; please report.

    Finally, Danadie had told Farn everything about Gradas Meir¡¯s death. He looked amazed, but pressed on. ¡°And Mellana?¡±

    Aurelie tensed. The dreaded question had been asked.

    Danadie, too, looked pained, but she knew she couldn¡¯t put it off any longer.

    ¡°Mellana died, honey. Gradas killed her, and kidnapped the two of you immediately afterwards. You likely didn¡¯t see her- her body.¡± She sounded choked, and her voice had cracked in the middle, but Danadie still tried her best to put the news across gently.

    However, Farn still felt as though he had been struck with an anvil. He just sat there, gaping and gasping, attempting to come to terms with this new reality. At first, he thought that his mom was playing a joke on him. But she would never joke about something like this, and she looked as though she were fending off tears.

    ¡°B- but then who called you guys? To tell you that Meir had us?¡± Farn asked, reaching for the smallest shred of hope, trying to find some way to prove that his Mel was still alive.

    ¡°Mrs. Dreslin sensed the presence of another Elemental Apprentice and alerted us.¡± Danadie replied, trying to sound as calm as possible, hoping her son would unconsciously mirror her tone and calm down a bit.

    But Farn didn¡¯t catch on. He rocked back and forth on his bed, his face a sickly pale, muttering, ¡°But, it can¡¯t be. There¡¯s just no way¡­¡± over and over, trying to convince himself that Mellana was still alive.

    Then his gaze fell upon Aurelie, who was sitting down on a chair by his bed. Inexplicably, rage tore through him

    ¡°You!¡± He roared, jabbing his finger in Aurelie¡¯s direction. His sudden movement caused both Danadie and Aurelie to jump, and they looked rather shocked.

    ¡°This is all your fault! If you hadn¡¯t provoked him, if you hadn¡¯t been with us¡­. I WISH I HAD NEVER MET YOU!¡± The venom and rage in Farn¡¯s voice startled both Aurelie and Danadie.

    ¡°Farn,¡± Dandie used the tone of her voice to tell her son that he was very close to crossing the line.

    Farn didn¡¯t heed the warning.

    ¡°OUT! GET OUT! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN!¡± He yelled, now pointing at the door.

    ¡°Farn Lejus! Mind your manners!¡± Danadie said, anger on her own face. Aurelie had saved both of the villages and her son¡¯s life by killing Gradas Meir, and had gotten so injured in the process that she had hovered between life and death for a week. Truthfully, they hadn¡¯t expected her to live, much less wake up before the comparatively healthy Farn. As for Mellana¡­ Aurelie was incredible, true. But she was only sixteen, three years younger than the two of them, and a third stage Master to their fourth stage Master level. In that situation, it was utter foolishness to expect Aurelie to protect them. In fact, it should have been the other way around. Not even Mellana¡¯s parents blamed Aurelie for her death.

    But her son obviously did. ¡°Why should I have to be respectful towards a murderer?!¡± Farn argued, looking crazed. Danadie glared at him, opening her mouth to berate him for his behavior. But before she could speak, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

    Turning around, she saw that Aurelie was shaking her head, a sad smile on her face. The young girl then turned to Farn, and said, ¡°Okay, Farn. I¡¯ll go. Stay safe.¡±

 Culprit

    Aurelie sat down on her bed with a sigh, then plopped down, utterly exhausted from both the walk to her room and the incrimination in Farn¡¯s tone. The blame crushed her, but the guilt, the feeling that it was her fault that Mellana was dead, was far worse.

    She shouldn¡¯t have been distracted, she should have known better than to be alone with anyone, she should have¡­

    But she was the weakest of the three of them, she was the youngest, she was the most unacquainted with this world¡¯s customs. They should have realized being with her was dangerous, that Gradas Meir would come for her, that she shouldn¡¯t be alone with them, or with anyone, for that matter. It wasn¡¯t fair that she should always have to think of all that could go wrong, that she had to always have her guard up. They should have realized!

    But this second argument was said in a weaker voice, drowned out by the guilt. She was the assassin, the planner, the one who was always aware. It wasn¡¯t just a role, but her personality. It was her fault. She always knew better, should always be ten steps ahead. The only reason any of this had happened was because she had underestimated Gradas Meir, and the speed at which he could become an Elemental Apprentice. It had proved fatal.

    The thoughts, the guilt, the blame, the grief, the indignation, all of it mixed and blended, miring her in a quicksand of despair and self-pity.

    Sitting up, she closed her eyes and settled her body into her cultivation position. After all, cultivating was the only escape she had access to.

    ~~~~~~~

    Cailysi, Planos, and Mrs. Dreslin stood over Gradas Meir¡¯s body, studying it for the umpteenth time. The wounds were unlike anything they had ever seen before.

    Aurelie hadn¡¯t told anyone what exactly had happened. In fact, she hadn¡¯t told anyone anything about Meir¡¯s death. She claimed that she hadn¡¯t done anything, and had fallen unconscious due to him choking her.

    But they had all heard the gunshot. While Mrs. Dreslin had been confused, the others had immediately recognized it as the sound that that strange device had emitted, the one Aurelie had used to alert them to her presence on the battlefield. They had never known that it was a weapon, but it wasn¡¯t hard to link an unknown sound to an unknown wound.

    Aurelie was sticking to her story, though, and continually refused to confirm her involvement in Gradas¡¯ death. And, despite the evidence, they were reluctant to believe that it was indeed her. There was no weapon that could cause so much damage, and Aurelie was a third stage Master, incapable of causing the damage to Gradas on her own.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    On the other hand, Aurelie was such a mystery that no one was quite sure what to expect from her. And they had heard one of her strange devices go off. So there was a slim possibility that it was her.

    In fact, it being her was the only possibility.

    Mrs. Dreslin was overjoyed at this fact. When Aurelie joined the Seven Heavens Academy, the school would gain another powerhouse! Cailysi and Planos celebrated with her, but on the inside, Cailysi was glum. Her position within the group was steadily dropping. She was beginning to feel less and less important, which was depressing most especially because she had come along for the sole purpose of scoffing at the weakness of the village children that they would be visiting. If she had known that this would happen, then she would¡¯ve stayed at school.

    Groaning and walking away from the Village Hall, Cailysi slipped into the forest and walked by herself for a little while. When she finally got tired of all the bugs attempting to bite her, sh turned and began to meander back, but before she could get far, a voice stopped her. She turned back, eyes wide.

    ~~~~~~~

    She was standing in a sea of blood that rose up to her ankles.

    There was an island, near her, with steps leading from the sea to the top of a hill, and she began to walk to it, though she had made no conscious decision to do so. The level of the blood rose, the floor sloping downwards. Intermittently, a flash of white shown through, a skull jeering at her with empty eyes and toothless smirk. Sometimes, an entire skeleton floated past. But she continued to walk.

    The blood crept up to her knees, and she watched as it clung to her, as though it was trying to hold her back.

    She slogged through it, creating small waves in the otherwise peaceful red sea.

    She was neck-deep in blood when she finally reached the island. She touched the lowest step. It burned her, as though it were made of fire. Ignoring the pain, she hauled herself up and started to climb the stairs. Each stair was hotter than the last, searing her. She soundlessly continued upwards.

    The top was a flower field. She glanced around, looking for someone.

    ¡°Hello.¡± Mellana¡¯s voice came from next to her, and she watched as the recently deceased girl danced up to her. Mellana tilted her head to the side and smiled at her. She held her breath, knowing what came next.

    As she expected, Mellana continued to tilt her head, tilting and tilting until¡­

    Crack! The bones in Mellana¡¯s neck made an echoing sound as they snapped. Mel¡¯s smile turned gruesome, and she began to yell ¡°This is your fault.¡± in a hoarse voice. The island shuddered and began to crumble, and both of them fell into the viscous liquid beneath them. She plunged in deep, began to kick towards the surface, but then Mellana was there, holding her down. Then the skeletons came, latching onto her, immobilizing her.

    And Aurelie drowned in the sea of blood.

 Memories

    Aurelie sat straight up on her bed, gasping for air, covered in a cold sweat. The sky outside her window had darkened to night, but the shining moon and twinkling stars did little to slow her racing heart¡­ or abate the tears running down her cheeks. Not caring about who heard her, she threw off the covers and changed her clothes in a hurry, then rushed out of the window and down the tree. Instinctively, she went to the quietest places, but she was in such a rush that Farn, whose room was beneath hers, woke up.

    Seeing Aurelie run off somewhere, Farn sat up, considered something, then went after her.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie finally collapsed a good ways from the village, gasping and coughing. She still hadn¡¯t fully recovered from her injuries, and now that the adrenaline rush from the dream was fading, she felt as though all the bones in her entire body were creaking.

    Gradas Meir had really done a number on her. He¡¯d broken both her legs and half her ribs, and bruised practically every organ in her body. Mrs. Dreslin had healed the most serious injuries, but her bones were still rather brittle, and she felt like the wrong move would make them break all over again.

    Rolling over onto her back, Aurelie watched as the stars peered down at her. She formed the mental image of two middle aged male angels with balding heads and a potbelly. She was too busy panting and hurting to curse the two of them out loud, but inside her head, they were being cursed with such blue words that even sailors would cringe. Then she ended it with, ¡°You jerks took Mel up there, so you better look after her, or I¡¯ll beat you up.¡±

    There was no doubt in Aurelie¡¯s mind that her friend was in Heaven. Mellana wasn¡¯t exactly innocent, but she held no evil intentions within her. She was pure. Aurelie¡¯s dream proved it. Whenever a good person whom she knew died, she would have that very dream. She didn¡¯t get it for bad people, even if she liked them, nor for the people she killed. Just the pure ones.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    She smiled sardonically. ¡®The fact that I know the pattern says a lot about how many good people I know have passed away. I¡¯m like the freaking plague, everyone I know dies.¡¯

    Sighing, she turned over again. She had rushed out of the house, but there was nowhere she wanted to go. If she went back now, it would just be another cycle of everyone trying to see her, to worry about her. Ever since Gradas¡¯ death, and the subsequent admission from the Village Heads that Aurelie may have killed the Elemental Apprentice, her status was sky high. She was practically worshipped by the villagers, and every other move she made caused them all to fly into a tizzy. It was exhausting.

    The only quiet place was the Village Hall, but even that wasn¡¯t much better. There was a tense, gloomy atmosphere around the house, and she knew it was caused by Mel¡¯s death. Danadie was always hovering nearby anxiously, and everyone kept on trying to reassure her by saying that Farn¡¯s words had merely been said due to his depression and sadness, and that he hadn¡¯t mean it. Aurelie wasn¡¯t so sure.

    To take her mind off of it all, she pulled out her phone and began to look through the pictures she¡¯d taken. Many of them featured Zane, though there wasn¡¯t a lack of pictures in which Chase was there. She paused at a photo that showcased all three of them. Zane was looking as cool as ever, glaring at the camera as though it was his mortal enemy. She was between him and Uncle Chase, holding onto their arms and giving the camera a huge grin. Happiness radiated off her face. Uncle Chase was smiling as well, though his gave off a more mature feeling. He was relaxed, one arm slung over Aurelie¡¯s shoulder, and the other hanging loosely by his side.

    Remembering that particular trip, one of the very few that didn¡¯t involve either Zane or her killing someone, the present Aurelie grinned. It had been nice to sit back and relax. The grin abruptly dropped after a moment, though, when she remembered what had happened the last time she¡¯d relaxed.

    Groaning, she sat up, deciding that she should head back to the Village Hall, having nothing better to do.

    Suddenly, an arrow thudded into the place where her head had been.

 Betrayal and Leaving

    Aurelie reacted on instinct, rolling away, coming up in a crouch, and then taking off into the trees, quickly concealing her presence. It was harder than usual, because of her aching body. Regardless, she managed to pull it off.

    Observing her surroundings with caution (well, more caution than usual) Aurelie readied herself to take off at the slightest indication that something was wrong.

    Nothing happened, but Aurelie didn¡¯t relax, staying on constant vigil. She knew better than most how patient hunters were.

    A quiet rustle in the bushes alerted her to another presence.

    Tensing, Aurelie silently took her throwing knives out of her ring, clutching them for both comfort and so that she would be able to throw them easily. But she was surprised when the one who came out wasn¡¯t her assailant, but Farn.

    Taking a step out of her hiding spot, Aurelie opened her mouth to warn Farn about the unseen assailant. Before she could make a sound, though, a shaft of moonlight filtered through the tree branches, displaying the item Farn held in his left hand.

    A bow.

    Aurelie didn¡¯t move, didn¡¯t make a single sound as Farn scanned the area, his narrowed eyes attempting to pierce through the shadows that cloaked the forest and Aurelie. Even though she wasn¡¯t in an optimal hiding place, Aurelie remained where she was. She was hidden well enough, and moving now would do little more than draw his attention.

    The ¡®regular, bubbly teenager¡¯ half of her was hurt by the fact that she had to treat Farn as an enemy and move in accordance to that view. But the cold-eyed assassin had no time for such emotions, and was critically evaluating the situation.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Farn had stopped looking around, and walked over to the arrow in the ground. Yanking it out in a smooth motion, he looked it over to check if it was damaged, then slid it back into his quiver.Then, giving a cursory glance over the surrounding forest one last time, Farn turned and left.

    Aurelie took a step back, retreating into the shadows which swallowed her into their protective embrace.

    ~~~~~~~

    Three weeks later, border between Lejus and Meir Villages

    A huge crowd, containing almost everyone from both villages, had gathered to see Aurelie, Farn, and Gallo off. Today was the day that three would begin their journey to the Seven Heavens Academy. After much debate, it was decided that Lejus¡¯ second slot for the selection would remain empty, out of respect for Mellana and to honor her memory. Not to mention that there wasn¡¯t a single person in Lejus, other than Farn, who could be compared to the recently deceased teenager.

    Aurelie smiled and waved, to the cries of the crowd, then turned and walked towards the forest. Everyone screamed their farewells. Lejus also said their goodbyes to Farn, with many people telling him not to worry about the village and work hard. Kadaras, who had completed his closed door cultivation and successfully emerged as an Elemental Apprentice, smiled as he watched his son leave.

    He didn¡¯t forget to give his son one final hug, though, and also took the opportunity to order Farn to apologize to Aurelie. Farn stiffened, but nodded slowly. Satisfied with the response, Kadaras clapped him on the back. Danadie came forward and gave Farn a kiss on his cheek, and then he too picked up his bags and walked over to where Mrs. Dreslin and Aurelie stood.

    Gallos had a small ceremony off to the side with his family and envious friends. Quickly wrapping it up, he waved goodbye and joined the five people waiting for him.

    And so all six of them set off on the perilous journey to the Seven Heavens Academy.

 Breakthrough

    They didn¡¯t head towards the academy right away, contrary to expectations.

    Mrs. Dreslin, Planos, and Cailysi had visited many other villages, and they needed to collect the participants from those villages. It would take at least two weeks to reach the nearest village, due to the fact that Lejus and Meir were separated from the rest of the continent by a mountain range, and in total it would take a month to arrive at the school. In the end, the size of their group would swell to twenty-six people.

    Hearing this, Aurelie frowned. She disliked the idea of being surrounded by strong people, while having no idea what intentions they harbored.

    ¡®Then again, it isn¡¯t as though I have no enemies in this group.¡¯ She thought, sneaking a glance at Farn. He avoided her gaze. Aurelie looked away to, ignoring the pang in her heart.

    He was an enemy now.

    She could understand his feelings, but she couldn¡¯t allow herself to get killed by him. She had things to do, and people to find her way back to. She couldn¡¯t stop now.

    Mrs. Dreslin, the leader of their tiny procession, held up her hand, making all of them halt. She took off her pack and called for them to set up camp. Silently, Farn and Aurelie complied. In front of them, Planos elegantly shrugged off his bag, while Cailysi bad-temperedly threw her stuff to the ground.

    Twirling around, the female pointed an accusatory finger towards the panting and sweating Gallo, her eyes sparking. ¡°This is entirely your fault! If you weren¡¯t so slow, we would be at the next town by now!¡±

    Gallo ducked his head. He was an eighth stage Apprentice. There was absolutely no way he could keep up with Masters like Aurelie or Farn, much less Cailysi, who was a Grandmaster. Being berated like this was unreasonable, but he didn¡¯t have the guts to tell her that, so he just took the scolding.

    Aurelie, on the other hand, wasn¡¯t afraid of the female bully.

    ¡°Oh, be quiet. There¡¯s no point in yelling at him, the only thing you¡¯re accomplishing is making yourself look like an idiot. Besides, no matter what, there¡¯s no way that you guys could cross these mountains in a day.¡± She replied, pulling her red-hair into a bun and letting the cool evening breeze blow against the back of her neck.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Cailysi flushed, her hands clenching into fists. Aurelie prepared herself for an attack, the ring on her hand depositing her knife into her hand.

    But just as the other woman was about to lunge at her, Mrs. Dreslin flashed between them.

    ¡°Stand down, both of you. I will not allow in-fighting. This isn¡¯t a picnic. There are Spirit Beasts on this mountain. What would you do if the sounds from your fight alerted them to our presence? Please restrain yourselves!¡± She scolded. Though she addressed them both, it was obvious that it was mainly aimed at Cailysi. After all, Cailysi was older and had experience travelling in these forests.

    Cailysi¡¯s face darkened. Even if they had attracted beasts with their fight, the teacher, who was an Elemental Apprentice, could defeat them easily. So, while all that had just been said was true, she knew there was another reason why Mrs. Dreslin had stopped their fight: She didn¡¯t want Aurelie to be harmed.

    Aurelie was incredible. She was a third stage Master Realm practitioner despite being so young, had stopped a war from happening using nothing but her wits, and, most importantly, was the primary suspect in the murder of an Elemental Apprentice. She was definitely someone who would shine brighter as she gained more power. If they could rope her in, then it would be incredibly beneficial to the Seven Heavens Academy. This knowledge only made Cailysi even gloomier. She had come on this journey to show her power off to the weak country bumpkins, not to be outdone by a third stage Master!

    Aurelie, too, understood the true reason for the scolding fairly quickly and smirked at Cailysi from behind Mrs. Dreslin, watching as Cailysi glowered.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie ducked into her tent, thankful that they were travelling so that the food was at least palatable. Sitting in the center of her tent, Aurelie opened her bag and took out a slim manual. Mrs. Dreslin had given her this before they set out. It was a high-tier Rare Level Cultivation Technique, two tiers higher than the one she currently used.

    Quickly reading through, Aurelie began to cultivate, drawing her Spirit Power through the new pathway. It was hard at first, because there were a few small energy channels in her body that she couldn¡¯t find, but she gradually got used to it. The gift was incredible, the volume of World Energy that surrounded her increasing ten-fold.

    Suddenly. the ball of her Spirit Power quaked, and then it began to erratically spike. Seeing this, Aurelie gasped slightly, then frowned and pushed the energy through the cultivation path at breakneck speeds. All the while, she kept an eye on the ball within her. It¡¯s sudden motions meant that she was close to breaking through the bottleneck!

    Motivated by the sight, Aurelie absorbed more and more World Energy, and actually increased the already insane speed of her Spirit Energy through her cultivation path. Finally, after over hour, she heard the sound of something shattering within her, and the ball within her abdomen grew about twice as large as it used to be.

    She was now at the fourth stage of the Master Realm.

 Spirit Fruit

    Aurelie thought of cultivation in terms of the EXP bar in Pok¨¦mon games. You needed to gather EXP (a.k.a. Spirit Power) to go to the next level. That was why people who had just stepped into a stage were generally weaker than those who had been at that stage for some time. It wasn¡¯t a huge gap, but in a close battle, it was often the deciding factor. Then, at the bottlenecks, you needed to defeat a monster, and only then could you advance to the next level.

    Just now, Aurelie had defeated her ¡®monster¡¯ and finally advanced to the fourth stage of the Master Realm. Stretching, she enjoyed the feeling of strength surging within her, and then settled back into her cultivation pose. Usually, she would relax and test out her strength after a breakthrough, but she couldn¡¯t do that now. They were on a mountain, so she couldn¡¯t do anything for fear of drawing attention to their little camp. On top of that, there were people in this camp who she didn¡¯t want knowing that she¡¯d broken through. So she didn¡¯t celebrate, and continued to quietly cultivate.

    ~~~~~~~

    The next morning, they packed up their camp, quickly ate a simple breakfast, and then set off again. The atmosphere was tense. Gallo was afraid of the Spirit Beasts, Aurelie was cautious of the humans, Farn was refusing to look at Aurelie, Cailysi was still sulking over the results of the previous night¡¯s argument, Planos was thinking about some issues with his cultivation, and Mrs. Dreslin was worrying about the fact that the atmosphere was so tense.

    Around noon, though, the atmosphere was enveloped by excitement. This was because they met a group of townsmen along the way who told them that someone had caught sight of a Spirit Fruit in the forest that covered most of the mountain. Spirit Fruits, Aurelie deduced from the conversation and the excitement, were fruits that contained Spirit Energy within them. When a human ate them, that human would gain that Spirit Energy on top of their own. It was highly sought after, and there were mercenaries and cultivators flocking to the mountain to find it.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    After considering things for a while, Mrs. Dreslin turned around and addressed her current students and (hopefully) her students-to-be.

    ¡°This is a great opportunity for you to test your skills. I will talk to the school to have someone else come pick up the remaining student candidates. We will remain here, and you will hunt for the Spirit Fruit. You may join a group, or work independently. Go.¡±

    Hearing this, the eyes of all five lit up. This was the first time Farn, Aurelie, and Gallo had even heard of a nearby Spirit Fruit. Cailysi and Planos were also quite ambitious. The Seven Heavens Academy had Spirit Fruits; however neither of them were important enough to the school to obtain them. This wouldn¡¯t be their first time obtaining a Spirit Fruit, but it was still a rare chance.

    As such, all five of them quickly took off their bags and left them in the teacher¡¯s care, gathering only the essential water skins and food. Then they took off.

    Aurelie was the first one to get ready and run off. Being the paranoid person she was, she¡¯d already kept enough food and water to last her for one week in her Storage Ring. So she didn¡¯t need to remove materials from her bag.

    ¡°Wait, Aurelie!¡± Planos called after her, right before she was about to re-enter the forest. Aurelie turned impatiently.

    Planos smiled. ¡°Would you like to work together with me?¡± he asked.

    ¡°Nope. I want to see how well I do by myself. Bye!¡± Aurelie replied almost immediately, turning back and running into the trees.

    However, when she entered the forest, she made a few strange movements. Instead of going straight in, she nimbly climbed a tree, and then positioned herself to watch over the makeshift camp. She watched for a while, until the others set off.

    Taking note of where Planos was headed, Aurelie followed Farn. At the same time, a combat knife dropped into her hands, and a cold glint ran through her eyes.

    To those who attempted to kill her, she would show no mercy.

 To Each Their Own

    Farn walked into the forest, putting his guard up. Unfortunately, being inexperienced, his guard was still wide-open to the cold shadow up in the trees. But it didn¡¯t strike just yet, watching as he walked in deeper.

    Occasionally, Farn would look up and scan the trees, but no matter how many times he did this, he could never make out the human hidden deep within the darkness.

    Finally, when Farn reached a spot he thought he would use as a base camp, the figure struck.

    All Farn saw was a flash of fiery red hair, emotionlessly dark blue eyes, and a slashing motion across his throat.

    And then it all went blissfully black¡­

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie barely glanced at the corpse next to her, spending more time inspecting her blood-covered clothes. Though she had moved at the last minute, the only true difference that the motion had made was to move her face out of the way. Neck-down, she was drenched. Looking down at herself, she sighed. It was really hard to avoid an arterial spray of blood¡­

    Shrugging, she looked towards the direction Planos had moved towards, and a smile tugged at her lips. Cheerfully, she bounced off in that direction¡­

    ~~~~~~~

    Planos looked at the spring he had found with pride, standing above it with his legs shoulder-width apart and his hands on his hips. He had made it a priority to find a source of water when he first entered the forest. It meant that he didn''t have to keep going back to Mrs. Dreslin¡¯s camp, which saved him a lot of time. Well, he figured it would. He had yet to check whether or not that was true, as they had only been in the forest for two hours.

    A rustle from behind him had him pulling out his preferred weapon, the staff, and then falling into an offensive stance, ready to attack at the slightest indication of ill-will.

    But, before he could do it, a figure came out of the thicket, holding their hands up. ¡°I come in peace!¡± Aurelie solemnly announced, but then let out a blinding smile, her eyes twinkling in mischief.

    Planos smiled back at her, rather quizzically. But the grin faded when he took in the rest of her. She and her clothes were dyed in blood.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Planos asked in shock, stepping up to observe her and make sure she was uninjured.

    But Aurelie waved him off. ¡°It isn¡¯t my own blood. This is the blood of a¡­ Spirit Beast that I met on my way here.¡± During the slight pause before she said ¡®Spirit Beast¡¯, an almost imperceptible cold glint passed across her eyes. Somehow, though, Planos noticed this, and he frowned.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°A Spirit Beast.¡± He stated, doubt clear in his tone. If nothing else, Aurelie was suspected to have killed an Elemental Apprentice there was no way that a mere Spirit Beast would inconvenience her to this extent.

    ¡°It put up quite a struggle.¡± Aurelie said, with a strained smile that clearly asked him not to ask anymore.

    An understanding look plastered on his face Planos nodded, and then he turned to wet a cloth in the stream behind him so Aurelie could wipe off the blood that coated her, giving an off-hand suggestion that she change into another set of clothes.

    As soon as his back was to her, though, a small, smug smile found it¡¯s way onto his lips. And, at almost the same exact time, the same smile tugged Aurelie¡¯s lips upwards¡­

    ~~~~~~~

    Cailysi sat before a crackling fire, looking gleefully at the mercenaries that surrounded her. While she was the strongest in the group, it couldn¡¯t be considered weak, as all of them had at least passed through the 7th-stage bottleneck in the Master Realm.

    ¡®Better than that piece of trash I¡¯ve been forced to pace myself with¡­¡¯ She seethed, thinking of Gallo (not that she had ever bothered to remembered the other boy¡¯s name). She calmed herself immediately, though, by looking around her. This was the mercenary group with the highest chance of finding the Spirit Fruits. If she travelled with them, then she would naturally get a cut.

    Looking at the starry night sky, Cailysi couldn¡¯t help but giggle maliciously when she thought of that stupid red-head¡¯s face when Cailysi one-upped her¡­

    ~~~~~~~

    Meanwhile, Gallo was trembling from a combination of cold and fear. He wanted to light a fire, but some Spirit Beasts, generally the stronger ones, were attracted by light. So he decided to endure¡­

    ~~~~~~~

    Mrs. Dreslin lifted her head, staring at the clear sky. The forest was lively, with many sweetly chirruping birds and other animals roaming. The leaves rustled in the slight breeze.

    Carefully, she spread her senses. She was able to easily find Planos and Cailysi as they were not only her students, but also one of the few powerful people who stood out. Cailysi was surrounded by other people. It would appear she allied herself with a mercenary group. Dreslin frowned. It wasn¡¯t against the rules, but it was slightly counter-intuitive to the goal of the hunt this time around¡­

    Shifting her focus to Planos, she found he had a fourth stage Master with him. Not knowing of Aurelie¡¯s breakthrough due to the fact she hadn¡¯t probed the girl this morning, Dreslin thought it was Farn who was with her male student. She spread out her senses further, but there were too many people at third stage Master Realm for her to say who was who. This was even more true for Gallo. The number of Spirit Apprentices on the mountain at the moment was impressive. It was akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

    Having done all she could to check on her charges, Dreslin then inspected the Spirit Fruit within the forest. She was indeed strong enough to do so, but as the fruit would hardly affect her own cultivation, she allowed them to go after it.

    Suddenly, her head snapped up, and she stared at the trees before her. They were still, and their inhabitants quiet.

    There was a storm coming, and it was a big one¡­

 Flirting and Doom

    ¡°Why did you change your mind?¡± Planos asked Aurelie as they sat down to have a simple dinner.

    The teenager had scrubbed off all the blood and then changed, so she looked very clean, her skin once again it¡¯s radiant pearly white. She looked rather enticing, sitting there with her silky crimson hair falling halfway down her back, her sapphire eyes twinkling, her skin appearing so soft. She wore a gray nightdress that fit her more like a t-shirt large enough to fall to her knees. The way she huddled closer to the fire and wrapped her hands around her bowl of gently steaming broth seemed endearing. Even the ¡°Hm?¡± she had given in response to his question sounded cute.

    Despite knowing that the girl across from him was anything but innocent, it still took Planos a few moments to gather his thoughts, and a couple more to elaborate on his question.

    ¡°Why are you here now, when you refused to join me at the start?¡± He asked, his voice shaking. After speaking, he immediately blushed.

    Aurelie smiled at the endearing reaction. Deciding to have fun with this, Aurelie let the highschool girl out to play. Flirting, she decided, would be quite interesting. Assassin Aurelie also knew how to flirt, of course. The best way to get close to male targets without arousing their suspicions was to arouse their bodies. But, though she was still a virgin, the assassin¡¯s flirting was more seductive, more provocative, than the high school girl¡¯s flirting. And a boy as funny and as cute as this should be teased, not lead astray.

    Besides, she never left a single man who touched her alive, and killing Planos would be a shame.

    She didn¡¯t consider this a betrayal to Zane. As far as she was concerned, the only way she could possibly betray Zane was by falling for, or dating, somebody else. This was harmless fun. Even she didn¡¯t get jealous on the rare occasions Zane flirted. It was more like amusement. The problem started when he dated someone, or slept with them.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Putting all that out of her mind, Aurelie leaned forward slightly, smiling warmly as Planos mirrored her movements.

    ¡°You see,¡± she whispered, as though they were sharing a huge secret, ¡°I¡¯m a very cautious person. I prefer for all my alliances to be secrets. So I couldn¡¯t very well accept your request right then and there, right?¡±

    ¡°Right.¡± Planos nodded his head vigorously to show his absolute agreement with her words. Seeing this, Aurelie giggled. The silvery sound made Planos¡¯ pink cheeks grow incarnadined.

    However, at that moment, a roar sounded out. ¡°Nephew! How could you let your guard down so far in front of an enemy?¡±

    Out of nowhere, a musclebound giant landed on the ground in front of Planos. He was huge, easily surpassing seven and a half feet, but he held a clear resemblance with Planos.

    ¡°Enemy?¡± Aurelie asked numbly, looking incredibly shocked.

    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± The new man roared. ¡°I am here to take your life, Aurelie Kanos.¡±

    At the same time that he spoke, his aura rushed out of him. Unexpectedly, he was a second stage Elemental Apprentice, the same level as Mrs. Dreslin.

    Aurelie backed away, discreetly brushing her thumb against her ring to withdraw her weapons. But instead of meeting the cool stone of her ring, her thumb instead brushed against the warm flesh of her ring finger. Jerking in shock, Aurelie looked at her hand. Her ring was gone! But how¡­ suddenly she remembered that she had put it in her bag before wiping herself down. Running full out to the bag, Aurelie desperately searched for the ring.

    After about a minute, an amused voice asked, ¡°Looking for this?¡±

    Aurlelie paused, then slowly turned around. Between the the thumb and the index finger of Planos¡¯ uncle¡¯s right hand was a small jade green ring that Aurelie recognized as hers.

    With a sinking feeling, Aurelie turned to face the two men. Her guns, the only hope she had of defeating this man on her own, were in that ring.

    This time she was in huge trouble.

 Uncle Chase

    Chase Winters was a millionaire. He had many businesses and casinos under his name. However, all this had come from the grandfather he didn¡¯t know he had until after the old man had died. His true passion was in the medical field, though he had decided to not become a doctor and take over his grandpa¡¯s businesses instead. Well, it had been more Aurelie and Zane¡¯s decision than his own, but he didn¡¯t mind that.

    He had met the duo over five years ago, right when his grandpa had died. He had just been left with the entire family¡¯s fortune and the family business. While he was floundering and wondering what he was going to do with all this money, other than pay off his college and med school loans, his relatives (who resented the fact that the son of the man who had renounced his family and eloped with a waitress from a dingy little diner, and lived happily ever after until his death when Chase was fifteen, was getting all the money) sent hit-men after him, hoping that when Chase died, they would get the money.

    He ran through the streets as fast as he could, looking behind him sporadically to judge the distance between him and his pursuer. Jumping over a fallen trash can, his ¡®I¡¯m in BIG trouble¡¯ sensor went off. He looked around to find some way to get away, before abruptly realized that he had no idea where he was. His bad feeling got worse, but he continued to run.

    A heavy weight leaped out of the shadows to his left, pinning him to the ground. He struggled, but a cold metal barrel pressed against his temples stopped him. Taking in a deep breath, he felt resentment fill him. He was going to die because an old man he¡¯d never met before decided to cause some trouble when he died. It was unfair!

    But, as he was wallowing in self pity, a cheerful voice chirped, ¡°Hi! Nice day today, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    Surprised, Chase, the man on top of him, and the man pursuing him all looked at a beautiful eleven year old girl with flaming red hair leaning down and smiling at the doctor. Chase had no idea how to reply.

    The girl just smiled larger. ¡°Do you want to live?¡± She asked.

    Chase fervently nodded.

    ¡°Then, hire me as your bodyguard.¡± She said sweetly. At that, the hit men let out a raucous laugh. The idea of the angel in front of them as a bodyguard was ridiculous.

    Chase, who was looking at the girl¡¯s face, wasn¡¯t so sure. The instant the laughter had started, the girl¡¯s smile had stiffened, and a cold glint appeared in her eyes. She was definitely more capable than she appeared. Besides, there was no one else around, and he obviously couldn¡¯t handle this.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°Can you take care of yourself?¡± He asked, wanting to make sure he wouldn¡¯t get this child killed.

    ¡°Of course! I can take care of you too. I¡¯ll get rid of these guys to prove it. This¡¯ll be free of charge, since they piss me off.¡± So saying, the girl produced two throwing knives out of nowhere and accurately threw them in the hit men¡¯s throats.

    Scrambling away from the bodies, Chase gaped at the young girl, amazed to realize that she was still smiling.

    ¡°My name is Aurelie Kanos. And this,¡± she added, dancing towards the shadows and pulling the arm of a young man with a cold look on his face who had at least five guns on him, ¡°is my best friend and partner, Zane. What¡¯s your name, mister?¡±

    Now, looking at Zane, Chase could see nothing but a man possessed. He refused to eat unless reminded that even if he found Relle, he wouldn¡¯t be of help like he was now. He never slept more than two hours a night, and was constantly out and about, looking for any clues. Arno Blunt was proving to be difficult to track down. He had apparently realized that all the men he¡¯d worked together with to kidnap Aurelie had been killed and had gone even further underground than he usually was. But Zane was digging, and it was only a matter of time until he caught Arno¡¯s tail.

    ¡®Provided he doesn¡¯t work himself to death before that¡¯ Chase thought, sighing as he picked up the tray of barely eaten food and took it to the kitchen to heat it up. It had been at Zane¡¯s side for over an hour.

    Zane had taken up the job of desperately searching for Aurelie, and Chase had taken over the role of watching over Zane, because the other man quite obviously couldn¡¯t watch over himself. Chase wondered what Aurelie would do if she saw Zane as he was now. Probably yell at him for doing something stupid.

    But Aurelie wasn¡¯t here. Her absence normally caused a vacuum in the house the three of them shared, but this was an all-consuming emptiness. The quiet was deafening, the disappearance of Aurelie¡¯s music and laughter almost a physical pain. Even though the two of them weren¡¯t blood-related, Chase felt like the young girl who always called him ¡®Uncle¡¯ was his niece.

    ¡°You can call me Chase.¡± He said. Aurelie and Zane had been his friends for over two years now and he had gotten used to their presence and the security they provided.

    Zane looked up, nodded, and then went back to typing away on the computer before him. Aurelie, on the other hand, frowned.

    ¡°No. I¡¯m in middle school, it would be weird if I were all buddy-buddy with an old dude.¡± She harrumphed.

    ¡°¡­ That¡¯s rude, Relle.¡± Chase told her, slightly hurt.

    She wasn¡¯t listening, though. ¡°I know! You can be ¡®Uncle Chase¡¯. I¡¯ve always wanted an uncle!¡±

    ¡°Relle, that¡¯s not how that works¡­¡± He told her, but was cut off by her congratulating herself for her ¡®great idea¡¯. Sighing, he gave in to her, as he usually did.

    Sighing now, he looked out the window.

    ¡®Where are you Relle? Come back safely, and do it soon. We¡¯re falling apart without you.¡¯

 (Belated) Valentineéˆ¥æªš Day Special

    ¡°Um, will you go out with me Aurelie?¡± A timid looking teenage boy asked the girl in front of him. It was obvious that he was nervous and rather embarrassed.

    Though she noticed all this, Aurelie wasted no time in shooting the boy down.

    ¡°I already have someone I like, sorry. And don¡¯t you already have a girlfriend, Alex?¡± She asked, looking at the boy sideways.

    Alex flushed a deep red. ¡°About that¡­¡±

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie pulled her hair into a bun, then slipped her throwing knives into place. She then leaned in closer to the morror and fussed with her hair until a few red ringlets framed her face. Satisfied, she applied lip gloss and mascara, then stepped back to observe herself. She wore a plum purple blouse with swirling crimson designs and black tights. Looking herself over with a critical eye, she deftly removed a bit of lip gloss that had been on her skin and walked out the door of her room.

    Walking down the stairs, she heard voices from the general direction of the kitchen. She lived in this house with her ¡®Uncle¡¯ Chase and the love of her life, Zane (even though, technically, Zane had already rejected her. She still refused to give up though). Actually, Chase owned a mansion that they could all live in, but it was much to big for just the three of them.

    Going to the kitchen, Aurelie smiled brightly and opened the door. The conversation (mostly Chase rambling and Zane nodding here and there) stopped. Chase seemed surprised to see her downstairs before ten a.m., while Zane just kind of froze.

    ¡°Going somewhere, Relle?¡± Chase asked, smiling warmly at her.

    ¡°Job?¡± Zane asked, frowning darkly. Probably because he disliked it when she agreed to an assassination without him knowing.

    This time, that wasn¡¯t the case. ¡°I am going somewhere, actually. I have a date!¡±

    Chase blinked. ¡°With who?¡± He knew that Aurelie loved Zane and didn¡¯t think that she would give up now, after so long.

    ¡°A senior. His name¡¯s Alex. We¡¯re going to an amusement park in about half an hour. I figured I should eat breakfast before going.¡± Aurelie grinned, obviously excited.

    ¡°Well, be careful, I guess.¡± Chase said, confused. But he knew that Aurelie would be able to take care of herself. He eyed the eight pins in her hair, knowing the brightly colored clips concealed throwing knives that she could use with deadly accuracy.

    ¡°I will.¡± She replied, rolling her eyes and grabbing a piece of toast smothered in jam that lay next to Chase¡¯s elbow.

    ¡°A date. With a boy.¡± Zane said, sounding rather dazed at the idea.

    ¡°Yes.¡± Aurelie said slowly, a strange look on her face. Suddenly, she grew rather excited. ¡°Z, are you¡­¡±

    She was cut off by the sound of someone stomping down the stairs. The house only had the three of them living in it, she hadn¡¯t brought anyone over, and Chase usually didn¡¯t bring anyone home. That left Zane, and the only people he ever brought over were women he slept with. Biting her lip, Aurelie fell back in her seat and began to sullenly munch on the toast she¡¯d stolen from Chase.

    ¡°Good morning!¡± A melodic voice sang cheerfully. Aurelie flinched. It was too early to be so peppy.

    The woman who had just entered was, obviously, Zane¡¯s type. She was curvy, tall and had short brown hair. She exuded confidence and maturity in spades, while still coming off as an optimist. She was pretty much Aurelie¡¯s exact opposite. Aurelie¡¯s hands went to her hair. More specifically, the knives. But she dropped her hands after a moment of conflict and continued to eat.

    The other woman noticed her about then. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Jacqueline. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Aurelie.¡± She responded quietly.

    ¡°You sure look dressed up.¡± Jacqueline smiled.

    ¡°Aurelie has a date.¡± Chase said, attempting to break the strange atmosphere.

    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great! It¡¯s such a shame to be alone on Valentine¡¯s Day!¡± Jacqueline said, turning to Aurelie. The single Chase studied the designs on the plate next to his elbow from which Aurelie had stolen her toast.

    The kitchen descended into silence. Aurelie sulked as she ate, Zane brooded as he drank his coffee, Chase felt awkward seeing the two, and Jacqueline was eating, absolutely unaware of the atmosphere.

    Luckily, the doorbell rang at that moment. Aurelie appeared to have regained her good mood as she bounced to the door and opened it, smiling widely at Alex, who wore jeans and a dark blue t-shirt.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Ready?¡± He asked nervously.

    Aurelie nodded and took his arm, steering him away from the house and back towards his car. Alex sat in the driver¡¯s seat while Aurelie slipped into the passenger¡¯s seat, and they drove off.

    ~~~~~~~

    Zane drummed his fingers against the table. A senior. Meaning he was about eighteen. Zane had been eighteen a few years ago, and was well aware of what the boy was likely thinking about doing. To Aurelie. Gritting his teeth, he stood up and walked to the garage, grabbing his jacket on the way.

    Jacqueline called for him, but he ignored her and took off after the two high schoolers.

    ~~~~~~~

    The amusement park, as a Valentine¡¯s Day special, was open only to couples. Aurelie could easily get in if she wanted to, but for now she had no need. Alex bought passes and they entered.

    There were paper hearts strung all over the place, and everything was in red, pink, and white. Aurelie got sick of it, and the happy couples, pretty quickly. She was a romantic, but she was tired of the colors, and the lovebirds reminded her of stupid Jacqueline and Zane¡¯s stupid tastes, and¡­

    ¡°Are you okay? You had this really weird look on your face.¡± Alex¡¯s face suddenly popped up in her field of view. She smiled. ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. When does the drama start?¡±

    Alex flushed again. ¡°Sorry I had to ask you to do this.¡±

    Aurelie laughed. ¡°It¡¯s fine! It sounds interesting!¡±

    Alex looked down, scuffing his shoe against a stone on the path. Aurelie smiled, thinking about the problem he¡¯d come to her with.

    ¡°About that¡­ people are saying she¡¯s cheating on me, and I want to confirm it.¡± Alex looked serious. It was as though he were about to cry, but holding back the tears.

    ¡°And why do you need me?¡± She asked.

    ¡°To gain entrance to an amusement park I heard her talking about. She told someone she was planning on going on Valentine¡¯s Day. It¡¯s only open for couples on that day. And she hasn¡¯t brought it up to me, so... ¡° He trailed off, looking depressed.

    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan if she is there?¡± Aurelie asked.

    ¡°If we do see her, then she¡¯ll probably think that I¡¯m cheating too, and it¡¯ll be easier for us to¡­¡± He trailed off again. Aurelie hid her smile. She doubted that it was going to be as easy as he made it sound. This would be fun.

    ¡°Well, while we wait, we might as well go on a few rides.¡± She remarked, and pulled him over to the line for a rollercoaster.

    ~~~~~~~

    They ended up going on more than just ¡®a few¡¯ rides. By the time they sat down for lunch at a small restaurant in the park, Alex been on more rides than he could count. Surprisingly, he and Aurelie had also become rather good friends. All that waiting in line was good for interpersonal relationships.

    So, when, he noticed a leaf stuck in Aurelie¡¯s hair, he didn¡¯t really think. He just reached over and began to pluck it out. Aurelie, surprised to feel his hand, turned and looked at him questioningly.

    Because he was leaning over, their faces were incredibly close. Seeing Aurelie¡¯s pretty face up close, Alex froze. Suddenly, to him, the moment felt intimate, as though the two of them were actually a couple. His breathing sped up a bit.

    A loud bang sounded out of nowhere, breaking the atmosphere. Alex jerked back, taking the leaf with him.

    ¡°T-there was a leaf in your hair.¡± He stammered, holding it up and looking at everything but her. Aurelie giggled, then patted his shoulder.

    ¡°I¡¯m gonna go to the bathroom. Be back in a bit.¡± She told him, getting up. He nodded, still too embarrassed to meet her eyes.

    ~~~~~~~

    ¡°We were having a moment. It was rude of you to interrupt, Z. Why are you even here? I thought you would be having a date with Jacqueline.¡± Aurelie said, peeking around a tree. Zane was leaning against said tree, looking at her.

    ¡°I¡¯m making sure nothing happens.¡± Zane replied.

    Aurelie rolled her eyes. ¡°Z, I have two guns, two combat knives, two daggers, and eight throwing knives on me, all of which I can proficiently use. If Alex tries to do something I don¡¯t want him to, I can deal with it myself.¡±

    Zane just stared at her stonily.

    Aurelie sighed. ¡°Fine. But no more interfering.¡± She told him, before turning around and walking back to Alex.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie had never really liked Hannah, Alex¡¯s girlfriend. She was a self serving person who was as shallow as they came. That dislike only grew when she saw Alex¡¯s face as the two of them watched Hannah and another boy from their school kissing.

    Aurelie gently shook Alex, who looked at her, then nodded and went up to his cheating girlfriend. He touched her shoulder, and she broke the kiss, turning to him. The look on her face when she saw who it was was priceless. And then there was an heated argument about fidelity. Garrett, Hannah¡¯s other boyfriend, looked suitably offended that she had cheated on him and broke things off, walking away.

    After that, the argument turned into Hannah yelling at Alex for ¡®ruining everything¡¯ and being such a ¡®loser¡¯. It pissed Aurelie off, so she walked into the fray as well.

    ¡°Oh, there you are, Alex! I¡¯ve been looking for you.¡± She said, smiling.

    ¡°A-Aurelie.¡± He said, his voice shaking.

    ¡°Who are you? Don¡¯t tell me¡­,¡± Hannah seemed to have calculated something, and her entire demeanor changed as she gasped and turned to Alex with faked hurt in her eyes, ¡°Alex, are you cheating on me?¡±

    Alex opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, completely astonished. Aurelie decided to answer for him.

    ¡°Of course not! He would never stoop to something as low and cowardly as that. I¡¯m Aurelie, Alex¡¯s friend.¡± Aurelie said, laughing. Hannah¡¯s eyes widened. Aurelie had a reputation in their school for being friendly, but unattainable outside of school. She was one of the school¡¯s biggest mysteries, as well as the most beautiful girl. Looking at her more closely, Hannah could see that the rumors hadn¡¯t been over exaggerated.

    ¡°Um, I feel awkward asking this to his girlfriend on Valentine¡¯s Day, but since Alex and I came together, do you mind if I borrow him?¡± Aurelie asked.

    ¡°No need to ask her. She isn¡¯t my girlfriend anymore. We just broke up.¡± Alex said. Aurelie smiled at the determination in both his tone and in his gaze.

    ¡°Well then. We¡¯ll be on our way then.¡±

    ~~~~~~~

    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t need a ride?¡± Alex asked Aurelie as they stood in the parking lot of the park.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll be fine. You go ahead.¡± Aurelie said. Alex nodded and drove off.

    Aurelie turned around and skipped to behind one of the cars, latching onto Zane¡¯s arm.

    ¡°I want ice cream. It¡¯s supposed to be the best cure for a broken heart.¡± She declared cheerfully.

    ¡°Right.¡± He said, deadpan, but as she steered him towards his car, he asked, ¡°What flavor?¡±

 Alliances

    Planos looked at the pale girl before him with pity. She¡¯d unwittingly killed someone she shouldn¡¯t have, and then fell into a trap without knowing any better. But it couldn¡¯t be helped. Such was her fate.

    ¡°Why do you want to kill me?¡± She asked, trembling slightly. Planos felt a slight pang somewhere in the general vicinity of his heart, but ignored it.

    ¡°You killed Gradas Meir.¡± Planos¡¯ uncle, Tanor, stated.

    Aurelie frowned. ¡°One, I didn¡¯t kill him. Two, what does that¡­ guy have to do with anything?¡± She asked, deciding that it would probably be a bad idea to call Gradas Meir the very bad name she wanted to call him in front of a second stage Elemental Apprentice that liked the recently deceased man.

    ¡°If you didn¡¯t do it, then who did?¡± Tanor asked, choosing to ignore point two (which was the more important point, in Aurelie¡¯s opinion).

    ¡°How am I supposed to know? I was out cold at the time. And don¡¯t ignore my question.¡± Aurelie told him, frowning.

    ¡°Well, if you got lucky once, you may get lucky again.¡± Tanor said, once again ignoring the last part of what Aurelie said. Aurelie would have been mad, but her ¡®JUMP!¡¯ sensors were firing and she was listening to them.

    At practically the same moment she jumped, Tanor punched the air in front of him. A huge wave of air rushed towards her. Aurelie gaped. The wind wasn¡¯t the product of him being an Air Elemental, but a shock wave created by his strength alone. It would appear that the rumor that the difference in strength between the stages beyond the Grandmaster level was astronomical was true. She could take several of Gradas¡¯ punches, but if she had taken this one on head-on, she likely would have died immediately.

    As it was, she hadn¡¯t jumped far enough up to fully avoid the wind punch. The comparatively weak winds that hit her were enough to send her flying towards a rock wall ten yards away. Gritting her teeth, she created a Spirit Power barrier around herself to lessen the impact. At the same time she created the barrier, she subtly slipped her hand into a self-made pocket in her nightdress and gripped two small stone pendants so hard they broke. She also congratulated herself for deciding to wear shorts under her large shirt.

    And then she slammed into the rock wall.

    Her barrier took about seventy five percent of the impact, but she was still unable to move for a little while afterwards. She gasped for air, all the air in her lungs had all escaped her on impact. Around her, small rocks rained down, having been broken off by the hit.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡®So this is a second stage Elemental Apprentice¡­¡¯ She thought to herself.

    Out loud, though, she gasped out, ¡°If¡­ you¡¯re¡­ going to¡­ kill¡­ me¡­ at least... tell me¡­ why.¡±

    Tanor flashed to her side. ¡°You really are tenacious, surviving that. Nice instincts too, jumping when you did. If I wasn¡¯t sent to kill you, I¡¯d try to recruit you for our master. Too bad he wants you dead.¡±

    It was like talking to a rock. ¡°WHY?¡± Aurelie asked, enunciating each syllable as though the man were mentally challenged.

    ¡°Master is the enchanter who sold Gradas his Enchantment Scrolls. He¡¯s a grade two enchanter. Our clan works as his bodyguards because he saved grandpa¡¯s life.¡± Planos told her. Tanor turned and glared at him.

    Enchanters were divided into ten grades, with grade one as the lowest and grade ten as the highest. Interestingly, unlike with cultivation, the grade was absolute. Unless some sort of miracle happened, the grade you had was the grade you stayed at. She didn¡¯t know how exactly the grade was decided, but she did know it likely had something to do with every enchanter¡¯s unique feature: their ability to compress their spirit energy into thin threads outside of their bodies, and then weave those threads into a sigil, which was then imprinted onto a scroll.

    While it was true that Enchanters were rare, and a grade two enchanter was considered good, it was likely that he didn¡¯t have many followers. The reason was simple: if you¡¯re strong, then why not try to curry favor with a higher grade Enchanter? It was likely that Tanor was his strongest follower. After all, if she could kill a first stage Elemental Apprentice, then, no matter how small of a possibility, there was a chance she could kill a second stage Elemental Apprentice. If he had someone stronger than Tanor, then she would likely be facing that person now.

    Aurelie quickly understood what was happening. By killing Gradas, who possessed Enchantment Scrolls he had made, she indirectly said that his Enchantments were unable to take care of a third stage Master, which, obviously, undermined his reputation. By killing her, he would be able to hush the matter up, as well as vent his frustration.

    ¡°Why did you tell her?¡± Tanor growled at his nephew.

    Planos shrugged. ¡°She wanted to know. Besides, it¡¯s not like she can do anything to us now.¡±

    Tanor sighed. ¡°I know, but it¡¯s best to not let your enemy know anything, no matter how much weaker than you they are.¡±

    Planos opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, a low laugh sounded out. They both turned to Aurelie, the source of the laugh. She was sitting up, with a victorious expression on her face.

    ¡°You should listen to your uncle. Letting your opponent know all the cards in your hand is a bad idea. And who said I couldn¡¯t do anything? Remember, I¡¯m a very cautious person. I prefer for all my alliances to be secrets.¡± Aurelie smiled, and for some reason, it chilled the two of them two the bone.

    And, at that moment, a man landed between Aurelie and Tanor, simultaneously revealing his aura. He was a third stage Elemental Apprentice!

 Elder Raotin

    Tanor stared at the third stage Elemental Apprentice before him, his hands clenched into tight fists. He couldn''t believe this. The cornered rabbit turned out to have a lion as a protector. But how? Who was this man?

    ¡°Elder Raotin?¡± Planos said from next to his uncle. He recognized the man before him. He was an elder from the Seven Heavens Academy. But why was he here?

    Suddenly, he recalled a victorious smile on a second stage Master¡¯s face. With a sinking feeling, he understood that they had made the same mistake Gradas had: underestimating Aurelie. She hadn''t fallen into their trap, they''d fallen into hers. They were the victims of her second elaborate plan (in this world, at least).

    Tanor had drawn the same conclusions, but it was useless to have said conclusions now. Now, they had to run. But that was easier said than done. In the Elemental Realm, the gap between each stage was like the distance between the lowest point of the Marianas Trench and the highest point of Mount Everest, possibly larger. There was no way they would be able to get away easily, even with the many Enchantment Scrolls his master had given him.

    ¡®But, if I sacrifice myself, then Planos could escape¡­¡¯ Tanor thought. As one of the older generation, he had the responsibility of keeping the young ones safe. With a glint in his eye, Tanor rushed at Raotin, while yelling, ¡°Run!¡± over his shoulder to his nephew.

    Planos didn¡¯t hesitate for a moment, turning heel and dashing the opposite way. But he had to stop before he could even take five steps.

    ¡°May I ask where you are going in such a hurry, Planos?¡± Mrs. Dreslin asked. She had shifted into her Elemental Form, and had blond hair with deep blue eyes. There were also streams of water flying around her, creating a looping pattern in the air. While it was true she would have some trouble against Tanor, she was more than capable of stopping Planos. Moreover, Planos was her student. She knew his Martial Techniques and his fighting style such that even if the two of them were at the same level of cultivation, her win would be assured if they fought.

    Flicking her wrist Mrs. Dreslin sent out a tentacle of water out. It shot behind Raotin and snagged Aurelie around the waist, pulling the young girl towards her. Tanor lunged towards the redhead as she shot by, but Raotin stopped him by the simple impediment of moving in front of her.

    Grabbing both Aurelie and Planos, Mrs. Dreslin ran away from the other two Elemental Apprentices. She was well aware that the tension between the two was rising higher and higher, and that a fight was liable to breakout at any moment. While she would be able to withstand being close if that happened, Aurelie definitely couldn¡¯t, no matter how extraordinary she was. As for Planos, stopping him from getting away was her job in the first place, so she couldn¡¯t leave him behind.

    After moving far enough away from the confrontation, Mrs. Dreslin sat Aurelie up against a tree. While doing this, she put down Planos and allowed several rings of water to form around him. She tossed a white pearl into the water, and it instantly froze, binding him.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    Having done that, she knelt by Aurelie¡¯s side, putting her hands on the younger girl¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°Pull your Spirit Energy back into abdomen and don¡¯t resist.¡± The teacher instructed, while sending her own Spirit Energy into the girl to scan her injuries. What she found caused her to frown, then sigh.

    ¡°Getting injured again, and you only just recovered, too¡­¡± she muttered under her breath, before she began to heal Aurelie¡¯s wounds. She used not only her power over water (which let her control Aurelie¡¯s blood flow and stop internal bleeding) but also utilized a Healing Technique, which was the healing version of a Martial Technique.

    Just as Mrs. Dreslin finished healing Aurelie, a soundless and invisible explosion of pure energy burst from where Raotin and Tanor were.

    Aurelie grit her teeth, spreading her own Spirit Energy around her in an attempt to counteract the pressure from the fight. But it hardly made a difference. It felt as though her body had been encased in stone, and she could barely breathe. She was slowly being crushed by the pressure. Just when she thought that she couldn¡¯t take it anymore, Mrs. Dreslin enveloped her within her own Spirit Energy shield. Aurelie went to ask why it had taken her so long to do that, but she quickly realized that the entire exchange had taken less than half a second. She shuddered to think of what would have happened if Mrs. Dreslin hadn¡¯t moved them. Instantaneous death that lasted for a painful eternity, she was sure.

    ~~~~~~~

    The fight was over less than five minutes after it started. Elder Raotin easily took care of Tanor, appearing in front of Aurelie, Planos, and Mrs. Dreslin. The two women smiled, though they had expected this outcome. Aurelie then turned and looked at Tanor. She blinked in surprise at his appearance. Earlier, she felt as though she were encased in stone, but Tanor was, quite literally, encased in stone. There was a block of stone his height and width behind Raotin, and his head was sticking out of the top. It was actually a rather funny sight to behold, but Aurelie wasn¡¯t laughing.

    Out of the corner of her eye, she discreetly scanned Raotin. Well, she meant to, but upon seeing him, she almost let out a shout. For a second, she saw Zane standing there. But her rapid blinking quickly broke the illusion up.

    Actually, Elder Raotin was very different from Zane. Though he was still rather handsome, he was shorter, pretty scrawny, and had mischievous air about him. In fact, the only similarity between him and Zane was the black hair and green eyes that Raotin¡¯s Elemental Form granted him.

    Aurelie sighed. Was that really all it took to remind her? Black hair and green eyes? God, she was getting desperate.

    Looking back at the two adults, Aurelie opened her mouth to say something, but Planos cut her off.

    ¡°Wait.¡± He said, in a rather excited voice. ¡°What crime are Uncle Tanor and I being accused of?¡±

    ¡°For trying to harm a possible future member of our school.¡± Elder Raotin said coolly. While it was true that no one really cared if you killed, fact of the matter was, if Aurelie died, then it would be a black mark on the Seven Heavens Academy¡¯s record.

    ¡°In that case, you have to arrest Aurelie too! She killed Farn!¡± Planos cried. The look in his eyes clearly conveyed his intentions. ¡®If I¡¯m going down, I¡¯ll take you down with me!¡¯

 The Past

    Aurelie coolly looked at Planos. ¡°I don¡¯t recall ever saying that, though?¡± She asked offhandedly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot. It¡¯s obvious, you didn¡¯t kill a Spirit Beast, you killed Farn! That¡¯s why you were covered in blood.¡± Planos said triumphantly.

    Aurelie sighed and opened her mouth to respond, but someone else spoke up before she could (again, she noted with annoyance).

    ¡°Please don¡¯t randomly proclaim that I¡¯m dead.¡± Farn said, emerging from the trees. He held a gun in his right hand, pointing at Cailysi¡¯s temple. Cailysi was pale and trembling, staring at the weapon. Farn shoved her towards Mrs. Dreslin.

    ¡°Cailysi conspired with Tanor and Planos to make Aurelie think I was trying to kill her. They involved me in their plot, and were willing to silence me and make it look like I committed suicide to cover their tracks.¡± Farn said coldly. His eyes were frosty, and he was sneering at the conspirators. The hatred in his tone was evident.

    ¡°Wha¡­ you¡­ but¡­ how¡­?¡± Planos stammered, looking at Farn as though he¡¯d seen a ghost.

    ¡°Surely you didn¡¯t think that I was stupid enough to fall for your plan?¡± Aurelie asked. Her voice was as cheerful as always, and she didn¡¯t leak any killing intent. She didn¡¯t even have her scary smile on. But Tanor and Planos felt their fear of the young girl before them grow larger and larger.

    Aurelie looked at Farn and smiled genuinely. The past few weeks had been quite interesting¡­

    ~~~~~~~

    Farn lay in his bed, thinking of all the accusations he¡¯d hurled at Aurelie earlier that day. Grief and anger still pulsed within him, but he could begin to think again. And, after reflecting on his words, he truly felt that he had been out of line. Aurelie wasn¡¯t at fault, and he had hurt her with his thoughtless blame. He would apologize tomorrow, and then¡­

    But before he could finish that thought, the rustle of leaves made him look out of his window. Aurelie was descending the tree that grew next to his bedroom. He watched as she jumped to the ground, and then as she ran towards the forest.

    Considering the pros and cons of going after her and apologizing now, Farn got up and went after her. He left the house as quickly and quietly as he could, then rushed towards the forest. He had no idea where Aurelie was going, but it was worth a shot.

    Rehearsing what he was going to say in his head, Farn entered the forest and followed the trail that Aurelie had left behind. He frowned, wondering why she was in such a hurry. There were broken twigs, and clear footprints in the mud. It was almost as though she had purposely left a trail for him¡­

    So engrossed was he in his thoughts, he didn¡¯t notice the bow and quiver lying in his path until he tripped over them. Sitting up and brushing leaves and dirt off of him, Farn looked back, frowning. Why were the bow and quiver lying there?

    Assuming that a hunter had encountered a really powerful beast and left his weapons so that he could run faster, Farn put on the quiver and picked up the bow. He would return take them back to the village and return them to their owner or their owner¡¯s family.

    Glancing over at where Aurelie headed, Farn continued to go after her.

    The rest of the trip was uneventful. He just followed the trail. And then it ended. Looking around the forest around him, Farn checked to make sure the trial wasn¡¯t continued in another direction. Then, he noticed the arrow that had been shot into the ground. Farn frowned, then pulled it out, examining it. There was no blood on the tip. It wasn¡¯t damaged, either. Looking it over, Farn realized that it belonged in the quiver on his back.

    Sliding it in, Farn looked over the forest again, then headed back the way he came.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie watched as Farn took the arrow out of the ground.

    ¡®It¡¯s too long.¡¯ she realized. He had a little trouble carrying it. And the bow, too. It looked heavy, too heavy for him to be able to hold it comfortably or shoot it with ease. On the heel of those revelations came another one- the bow was unfamiliar. It wasn¡¯t Farn¡¯s.

    There was no need for Farn to not use his own bow. It would decrease his accuracy, and it wasn¡¯t like the bow used could be told from the arrow. There was also no need to use different arrows. All he had to do was take the arrow away, wash it, and no one would be able to tell. Also, Farn would never reveal himself like that, knowing that Aurelie was still around and would see him. In conclusion, the one trying to kill her wasn¡¯t Farn, but someone trying to direct her enmity towards him. They were trying to blind her to their own movements.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Aurelie felt as though dozens of eyes were watching her. It wasn¡¯t safe to tell Farn what she had found out, or her enemy could be forced to reveal their hand. She could sense that this person was far, far more powerful than Gradas was.

    She needed to be careful.

    ~~~~~~~

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Aurelie. I said a lot of insensitive things that I shouldn¡¯t have yesterday. Please forgive me.¡± Farn said, bowing to Aurelie. She looked at him coldly.

    ¡°After what you did yesterday, did you really think that I would forgive you?¡± Aurelie sneered. Then she got up and stormed off, into her room. Sitting down on her bed, Aurelie quickly wrote down all the events that had transpired yesterday and her own conclusions about them on a sheet of paper. But she wrote them in English. She had taught Farn to read and write in English, and she had made sure to not use words that Farn wouldn¡¯t understand. So while everyone else would think they were just random scribbles, Farn would be able to read and find everything out. Then, for insurance, she turned the paper over and wrote curses in Sorainellese, including a small ¡®Turn the paper over.¡¯ in English at the bottom so Farn would read her true message.

    Seeing that there was still a little room left on the English side, Aurelie decided to explain her rejection of his apology too.

    They¡¯re watching us, Farn. They want you and I to hate one another so they can move in the shadows. If either of us act friendly, they may kill both of us immediately. I think the only reason they haven¡¯t moved yet is because they are scared of the Seven Heavens Academy. So they¡¯re making a plan. But we¡¯ll also make a plan. And then we wait and see who¡¯s the last one laughing.

    ~~~~~~~

    ¡°Mrs. Dreslin, are there any third stage Elemental Apprentices in the school?¡± Aurelie asked.

    Mrs. Dreslin examined the girl before her. The question was innocent, but Aurelie had a gleam in her eye which made the teacher think there was a deeper meaning.

    ¡°Of course there are.¡± She replied. ¡°You can meet one when you get to the academy.¡±

    ¡°But I want to see one now.¡± Aurelie pouted. But that gleam was still in her eye.

    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± Mrs. Dreslin said smiling. ¡°And, Aurelie? Take this.¡± Mrs. Dreslin pulled a stone pendant out of her own storage ring. ¡°If you break this, then my own pendant will glow, and I will come help you.¡±

    Aurelie took it with a smile, and then nodded and walked away with a spring in her step.

    Mrs. Dreslin watched her go, and then pulled out a worn turquoise stone from her pocket, injecting a bit of her Spirit Power into it.

    ¡°Raotin, how fast can you get to the Wenrey Mountain Range?¡±

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie climbed up a tree, then watched the small camp. She took note of what direction Planos went in, then followed after Farn. A glint went through her eyes. It was time to put the plan in place.

    She shook her sleeves, letting a combat knife fall out of its sheath, into her hands. She used it to mark the trees she passed, so she could get back.

    Waiting until Farn stopped, Aurelie struck. She slashed down on his neck with her hand, making sure to make her combat knife go back into her ring. At the same, she withdrew a red liquid from the ring, splashing it on Farn¡¯s neck as her hand chopped onto a pressure point, rendering him unconscious.

    She then did the same thing as she pretended to stab him, over and over until she felt the eyes focused on her look away, and a presence leave. She couldn¡¯t feel the presence until the night before, when she had finally broken through the bottleneck. Aurelie was thankful for the help. It made things easier.

    Aurelie withdrew some water from her ring, splashing it on Farn¡¯s face to wake him up. Farn spluttered into consciousness.

    ¡°Well, they think you¡¯re dead. You are now free to monitor Cailysi. You did watch her when you came in, right?¡± Aurelie asked cheerfully.

    ¡°Of course.¡± Farn replied, getting up. Aurelie studied him. Ever since Mel had died, Farn had become more closed off and serious. But there was nothing she could do about that. Many people changed when someone close to them died. This was something only Farn could work through.

    ¡°Oh yeah, Farn, here, a gun.¡± Aurelie said, handing him the weapon. She then went on to instruct him how to use it. He wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against Cailysi in a fight. The only way to get her where they wanted her was using her gun. Cailysi was a bully. The instant her own safety was threatened, she would give in, and Farn wouldn¡¯t need to kill her. Not that he would mind. Farn had been particularly bloodthirsty ever since she had shared her suspicions that the ones who were currently after them were likely friendly with Gradas Meir. After all, she no other enemies in this world. The only reason someone would hate her would be because of what it was suspected she did to Gradas Meir.

    ¡°Now then, just one more thing to take care of¡­¡± She said, the smile on her face slowly growing larger.

    ~~~~~~~

    Aurelie barely glanced at the corpse of the Spirit Beast next to her, spending more time inspecting her blood-covered clothes. Though she had moved at the last minute, the only true difference that the motion had made was to move her face out of the way. Neck-down, she was drenched. Looking down at herself, she sighed. It was really hard to avoid an arterial spray of blood¡­ but, then again, this was the goal. The hidden observer would be suspicious if she didn¡¯t have a speck of blood on her after her ¡®attack¡¯ on Farn.

    She started to walk away, but then seemed to remember something. She brushed her ring and took out all her weapons, putting on all her sheaths and placing her knives and guns in their respective sheaths. It would look strange if she weren¡¯t at least a little affected by Farn¡¯s ¡®death¡¯, and what better way to show her sadness than leaving behind her ¡®weapons¡¯?

    Shrugging to reacquaint herself with the weight of her weaponry, she looked in the direction Planos had moved towards, and a smile tugged at her lips. Cheerfully, she bounced off in that direction¡­

 Lost

    ¡°You¡­ You mean you knew our plan all along?¡± Planos spluttered. Aurelie smiled at him, and it was the scariest smile he had ever seen.

    ¡°Of course I did. Did you really think your bad acting fooled me?¡± The day after the forest incident, when she had visited the guests from the Seven Heavens Academy, she had sensed a slight killing intent around Cailysi and Planos. Mrs. Dreslin wasn¡¯t aware of it, and Cailysi and Planos hadn¡¯t realized they were leaking it, but Aurelie had been incredibly sensitive to killing intent directed towards her ever since she was five. She had immediately figured out that Cailysi and Planos had something to do with the murder attempt the night before.

    ¡°In fact, the only thing that was surprising about what¡¯s happened is your uncle, Planos.¡± Aurelie said, consideringly.

    ¡°I knew he was there, and I was trying to draw him out, but I never expected that a harmless bit of flirting would do the trick. I wasn¡¯t faking my surprise, at that point in time. Also, I didn¡¯t expect him to be a second stage Elemental Apprentice. I knew Gradas¡¯ energy levels, and I knew that he was far more powerful than Gradas. I had Mrs. Dreslin call for Elder Raotin because I thought that Tanor was at the third stage of the Elemental Apprentice Realm. I underestimated the gap between stages.¡± Aurelie smirked. Tanor went red with anger. It was as though she were telling him she had overcompensated for his presence, that he wasn¡¯t good enough to bring her plan out fully,

    ¡°So, Elder Raotin, are you leaving with them now, or are you going to stay for a little while longer?¡± Aurelie asked.

    Raotin sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll leave soon. I need to turn these three in, as well as ferret out the enchanter who had the guts to attack future members of the academy.¡± He said, his face stormy.

    Aurelie laughed. ¡°I¡¯m honored you think that highly of us, Elder, but us entering the school isn¡¯t for certain.¡±

    Raotin studied the two of them seriously. ¡°I have a feeling you¡¯ll make it.¡±

    Though his contributions seemed slight, as compared to Aurelie, fact of the matter was that Farn had needed to separate Cailysi from the mercenary group, threaten her, and bring her here. Cailysi was an entire Realm above Farn, so it was probably incredibly difficult to do so. The gun helped, but he would have needed to have his guard up the entire time. Farn couldn¡¯t be underestimated either.

    Aurelie just giggled and turned away. ¡°We¡¯ll leave you, then. After all, there are Spirit Fruits with our name on them somewhere here!¡±

    Raotin watched them walk away, then turned towards Mrs. Dreslin. ¡°You really found some little monsters this time, Elviay.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Elviay Dreslin smiled slyly at her husband. ¡°That was my job, wasn¡¯t it Raotin? And how did you get here so fast? Don¡¯t tell me you were following me again.¡± She added, raising an eyebrow.

    ¡°Of course not! I was assigned to the region near the Wenrey Mountain Range for the past month.¡± Raotin protested.

    ¡°Then is it really okay for you to be stepping away from your duties?¡± She asked, her eyebrows still raised.

    ¡°I was assigned to come back right around now.¡± Raotin replied, an angelic look on his face.

    ¡°Uh-huh. And, when I go back and ask my friends, are they going to tell me you went around begging the Headmaster to assign you to this region for however long I¡¯m here again?¡± She asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

    ¡°Not unless they break their promise to keep their mouths shut.¡± Raotin said seriously.

    Elviay laughed. ¡°Stupid.¡± She said, shaking her head.

    Beside them, the trussed up bodies of Cailysi, Tanor, and Planos thought, ¡®Idiot couple.¡¯

    ~~~~~~~

    ¡°So¡­ do you have any idea where we should even start to look?¡± Aurelie asked as she picked her way through the jungle. Truthfully, she had been so focussed on what was happening with Tanor, Planos, and Cailysi, she hadn¡¯t even thought about the Spirit Fruit, other than to rejoice at the opportunity it created in terms of being able to finally put the plan into action.

    Luckily, Farn hadn¡¯t been as single minded.

    ¡°Cailysi¡¯s mercenary group said that there was a cliff. On one side of the cliff, there¡¯s a waterfall, and on the other side there¡¯s a jungle, as well as a cave. The Spirit Fruit is inside the cave. I know the general direction it¡¯s in.¡± Farn replied.

    Aurelie whistled. ¡°Nice info. But how does a fruit grow in a cave? Isn¡¯t there a problem with the lack of light?¡±

    Farn shrugged, and for an instant he looked like the same carefree boy she¡¯d met when she first came to Sorainella.

    Quietly, the two continued to walk.

    ~~~~~~~

    Meanwhile, Gallo wondered whether or not he was still on the same mountain as the others. He looked down at a rather steep cliff. It was more like a sheer, smooth rock face than a jutting cliff. It was as though someone had cut through the stone with one move, and this was how it was left. He couldn¡¯t see the bottom, and when he threw in a stone, he couldn¡¯t hear the echo of it hitting the ground even after five minutes. It was like a dark, bottomless pit just waiting to swallow him up.

    Then he looked to the right and saw practically impenetrable forestry. The tangle of greenery was so dense, even the blazing noon sun couldn¡¯t penetrate its depths. Behind him was the forest he had just exited. To his left was a dark cave. It, like the cliff/bottomless pit before him, was dark, and, strangely, scared Gallo more than the drop did. Across from the rift, in front of him, was a waterfall. The water was a clear, crystalline blue. He could see small, brightly colored fish swimming in the river which was formed by the waterfall.

    He raised his head and looked up at the bright blue sky, wailing, ¡°WHERE AM I?!?¡±

 Confirmation

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Gallo?¡± Aurelie called, as she finally ran out of the forest, holding a turquoise stone in her hand. It was the same stone that Mrs. Dreslin had used to contact Raotin. It was called a Communication Stone. It was basically Sorainella¡¯s version of a cellphone with a GPS, but it used Spirit Power instead of electricity. You injected your Spirit Power into the stone in a predetermined pattern, and that caused other Communication Stones with corresponding patterns to hear you and track your position. There was a different pattern per Communication Stone, and a separate one for a group of Communication Stones. Mrs. Dreslin had given her students a Stone when they started out from Lejus Village, as well as the patterns to contact her, the others, and the group.

    One of the reasons Tanor had taken Aurelie¡¯s storage ring was to prevent her from contacting the others. She had made sure to store her Communication Stone in her ring in front of Planos, so that Tanor would feel that she wouldn¡¯t have her Communication Stone on her. True, not having the Communication Stone wouldn¡¯t have been a huge bother, but it had been how she had contacted Farn to come to where she was.

    In any case, about half an hour ago, Gallo had made a general SOS call on the group channel. Aurelie and Farn, who had been near him, had immediately set off in his direction.

    Aurelie looked around. There. Gallo was up in a tree, holding onto a branch for dear life. Underneath the tree, there were several Spirit Beasts eyeing him hungrily. They were a pack of wolves with green fur and the smallest one would be as tall as Aurelie if it were standing on two paws. Their cultivation was at the first stage of the Master Realm. Aurelie and Farn frowned. Though they could take care of the wolves, it would be rather difficult, and they risked getting injured.

    Getting an idea, Aurelie whispered something to Farn. He nodded, bent down and grabbed a few pebbles on the ground, and then ran out towards the wolves, firing the small stones to gain the animals¡¯ attention. It worked, and the entire pack turned and ran after him, snarling. Farn turned and ran a small distance, then turned back around and faced the pack head-on.

    The wolves all leapt towards him, snarling, anticipating the feeling of sinking their teeth into him¡­ and then they were flying sideways. Farn watched as they fell, howling, over the cliff. He then faced the remaining three wolves, a short sword materializing out of his own storage ring and dancing through the air. Now that their numbers were cut down, the wolves were no problem for him to take care of. In short order, three dead and decapitated bodies fell to the ground, and Farn started to clean his sword.

    Aurelie stood where she had been standing when she used her patented and perfected Rejection Palm, which she named after the Suction Palm, from which the technique was derived. She had been right. Ever since Mel¡¯s death, Farn had been¡­ angry. He had turned a bit aloof, like a loner. He was quieter, and far more serious than usual. She was worried about him, but she knew better than to intervene. Not for the first time, she reminded herself he needed to get through this alone. ¡®If it gets too bad, if all that anger turns inwards, then I¡¯ll help.¡¯ She promised herself, scanning her surroundings for any other approaching Spirit Beasts. Recognizing where they were, she froze.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Meanwhile, Farn helped Gallo down from the tree.

    ¡°What happened?¡± He asked.

    That was all the encouragement Gallo needed. Although he was just a year younger than Farn, Gallo was much more timid than Farn and relied completely on his peer. ¡°Well, I was wandering around, trying to find the Spirit Fruit, but I got really lost, and I couldn¡¯t find my way back to camp, and I¡¯ve used up all my food and water, and then the Spirit Beasts came and they tried to eat me and I ran and I climbed the tree and¡­¡±

    ¡°I see.¡± Farn said, cutting Gallo off.

    Gallo looked between the two of them hopefully. ¡°Do you guys know the way back?¡±

    Farn frowned. He hadn¡¯t paid attention to the path, having had been in too much of a rush. He turned towards Aurelie, planning to ask if she remembered how to return to the camp. It was then that he took in her appearance. She was pale, and looked shocked.

    He frowned. ¡°Aurelie? What¡¯s wrong?¡±

    ¡°Aurelie! Do you know the way back?¡± Gallo asked, the desperation of a drowning man grasping at his last straw shining in his eyes.

    ¡°Huh? Yeah, I know the way.¡± Aurelie replied, her voice shaking. Gallo started to jump up and down in joy, happy to finally be returning to the protection of the camp and Mrs. Dreslin.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think we should be going back just yet, though.¡± Aurelie added.

    Gallo looked at her in surprise. ¡°Why not? Do you want to spend another sleepless night here, wondering what Spirit Beast was going to crawl out of the shadows and kill you?¡± He continued to rant about other fears that had been plaguing him for the past day they had been in the forest, though he started to do it under his breath. He knew that he was the one asking for their help, and he shouldn¡¯t be mad at them for delaying. That didn¡¯t abate his fears, though.

    ¡°Farn.¡± Aurelie said, urgency a vibrant thread in her voice. She turned and looked her friend in the eye, ignoring Gallo. Her eyes were shining with excitement.

    ¡°What?¡± Farn asked, curious as to what was affecting Aurelie to this point.

    ¡°Do you recognize this place?¡± She asked.

    Farn looked around, skeptically wondering how he could recognize a place he had never been to before.

    But his eyes widened soon enough. Amazed, he turned and looked at Aurelie, nodding.

    ¡°The Spirit Fruit should be in that cave.¡± He confirmed.

 Red Energy

    Gallo gasped. ¡°I-it''s here? Th-the Spirit Fruit is h-here?¡±

    ¡°That''s what my intel indicates.¡± Farn said, regaining a semblance of his composure. But his eyes still shone with excitement and happiness.

    Next to him, Aurelie was practically jumping up and down in excitement. She never expected that, after successfully taking care of the problem with Tanor and Planos (Cailysi was too minor to really bother with), she would tumble onto the Spirit Fruit. She truly felt that she''d used up all her luck for the next two years today.

    Aurelie and Farn looked at one another, then made their way towards the cave together in unspoken agreement.

    But before they entered, Gallo said, ¡°Wait a minute, you guys.¡±

    They turned back and looked at Gallo with annoyance.

    ¡°If you don''t want to go, Gallo, then please stay here as a lookout. We''ll take you back when we get out.¡± Aurelie said, annoyed. She wanted that fruit, dammit!

    Gallo sighed. ¡°I''m coming too. But aren''t you guys underestimating the Spirit Fruit? Spirit Beasts are attracted by it as much as humans are. The very fact that there isn''t a huge crowd of Spirit Beasts here right now indicates that the Spirit Fruit is being guarded by a very powerful being. We can''t go in there unprepared.¡±

    Aurelie nodded. She hadn''t known about the part with the Spirit Beasts. But the rest of what Gallo said¡­ She should have known better than to charge into an unknown location without sufficient knowledge. She frowned. What was wrong with her brain? Was she just excited from taking down Tanor and finding the Spirit Fruit? Or was it something else? Suddenly, the cave before her seemed incredibly dangerous¡­

    Farn, too, was frowning. He had known everything Gallo had just said, but had disregarded it in his haste to get to the Spirit Fruit. He knew better than that, though. So why had he done it?

    ¡°I know you guys are excited, and I am too. But Aurelie just used up a bit of Spirit Power, and we can cook the wolves and stock up on food. We should only go in when we''re at full power.¡± Gallo reasoned. Again, Aurelie frowned. She should have thought of all this. Why was her logic failing now, of all times?

    Carefully thinking about her emotions, Aurelie realized that her primary emotion was excitement. But why was she so excited about something she had practically forgotten about until an hour ago?

    So thinking, she immediately fell into her Cultivation Position, simultaneously replenishing her and searching for any outside forces influencing her.

    She found it after about ten minutes of probing. An almost imperceptible tendril of red energy was wrapping itself around her brain, slowly soaking into her brain cells.

    Terror quickly made it''s way through her, but she forced it down, though it was significantly harder than usual. After that, she pulled her Spirit Energy towards her head. Carefully, she separated a molecule sized ball of Spirit Energy from the main force and sent it forward to see how the red energy would react. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Surprisingly, the red energy got sucked into the ball, and the ball got a bit bigger. But after a short while, all the red energy in the vicinity of the ball of Spirit Power disappeared, and no other energy took its place.

    Deeming it safe, Aurelie started a full scale assault on the red energy, absorbing it and growing stronger. She systematically attacked, first fighting the energy in the process of being absorbed, then putting up a barrier to repel any other energy from coming in.

    She then gathered the remaining energy, planning to use it to cleanse her brain. Here she stopped for a moment, debating how to go about this. Finally, she settled on doing the same thing the red energy did: letting her brain absorb her Spirit Energy and force the red energy out.

    She surrounded a brain cell with her Spirit Power, letting the cell soak up her power. It did so with apparent ease, and soon the red energy within the cell was cleared.

    Her experiment having succeeded, Aurelie started to marinate large sections of her brain in Spirit Power. She could feel her head clearing, and her rationality returning. Sighing in relief as the last bit of red energy disappeared, Aurelie scanned her brain for any lingering foreign influence, then finally relaxed. Never once had she forgotten that that entire exchange had taken place in her brain, that the slightest of mistakes could leave her brain dead, or just plain dead.

    Opening her eyes, she saw that Gallo was peering at her in concern, while Farn was looking at the cave while tapping his foot in impatience. Noticing that she''d woken up, Gallo heaved a relieved sigh.

    ¡°You were cultivating for about three hours! Was the energy consumption from the Martial Technique really so large?¡± He exclaimed. Shaking her head, Aurelie went to reply, but before she could, Farn said, ¡°Finally. Took you long enough. Let''s go now!¡±, exasperation evident in his tone.

    Aurelie beckoned towards Farn. Annoyed, Farn stalked over to her. ¡°What?¡±

    Quickly, Aurelie explained the situation and how she dealt with it. Understanding the importance of what Aurelie said, Farn immediately took up his Cultivation Position, doing as Aurelie had said by staging the two stage assault.

    Gallo looked relieved. ¡°Good job on realizing what had happened, Aurelie. I forgot to mention it, but there are some Spirit Fruits which can entice creatures, including humans, to rush towards it madly, disregarding all danger. The closer one is, the worse the effect is. It would have been bad if you guys got more influenced.¡±

    Aurelie nodded, smiling at Gallo. But on the inside, she was analyzing him. Why hadn''t the red energy affected him? Why had he still been rational? He himself didn''t appear to have noticed the fact that he was different, but was that just an act?

    ¡°Why are you staring at me? Is there something in my face?¡± Gallo asked, raising his hand self-consciously.

    Aurelie laughed. ¡°No, there isn''t anything there. I was just wondering how you know so much about Spirit Fruits.¡±

    Gallo scratched the back of his head, blushing. ¡°It''s just, I''m really interested in Spirit Beasts and Spirit Fruit. I read everything I could about them in the library.¡±

    Aurelie nodded. It was true that the libraries of Meir and Lejus provided a large amount of books for those interested. Aurelie herself had spent hours poring over books, though she had been more interested in the history of Sorainella, and the situation in the country they lived in, which was called Hassil.

    Aurelie smiled, and asked Gallo for his opinion on what the Spirit Fruit in the cave could be. Excited, Gallo started to give his opinions and his justification for said opinions.

    This discussion continued for half an hour, which was when Farn suddenly turned pale, coughed up a mouthful of black blood, and fainted.

 The Difference of Three Hours

    Aurelie and Gallo immediately rushed to Farn¡¯s side, kneeling by his body and calling his name. He didn''t respond. Aurelie put her hands on Farn¡¯s shoulders, imitating the position Mrs. Dreslin had taken to scan people for injuries.

    She cautiously let a thread of her Spirit Energy flow into Farn''s body, circulating it through Farn''s veins.

    She quickly found the problem. Farn''s brain was pulsing with the red energy. It was far thicker than it had been for her. She frowned, then a stricken expression crossed her face as she understood why Farn''s condition was so much worse than hers had been.

    Gallo had said that she had been fighting the red energy for over three hours. She had put up a shield over herself so that no more energy would come through, but Farn hadn''t known to do that. He had been exposed to the strange energy for three hours longer than she had.

    The effect of those three hours was astounding. Now, the red energy in Farn''s brain was strong enough to fight back against Farn''s Spirit Energy, causing a huge battle around Farn''s brain. The red energy was beginning to fuse with Farn''s blood, too, and that reinforced the red energy embroiled in the battle.

    Aurelie let out a vicious curse. She should have let Farn know immediately after she found out about the fact that they were being subtly attacked by a foreign energy. It was her fault things had developed to this stage. Next to her, Gallo looked increasingly worried, wondering what was going on and how Farn was doing. But he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to bother the two of them for fear of breaking their concentration.

    The only thing that gave Aurelie hope was that Farn was still fighting, though he was unconscious. In fact, rather than unconscious, it felt more like he had just cut off all his awareness and had focussed all his efforts only into fighting, not paying heed to any other distractions. On top of that, the blood he had coughed up held very strong traces of the energy. It meant that he was, slowly, getting rid of the invading red power.

    Wanting to see if she could help him, Aurelie tried to cleanse a portion of his blood which was heading towards his brain. She pulled the string of her Spirit Energy into a ball, and used that to block it.

    The red energy in Farn¡¯s blood immediately fought against her, but she kept up the barrier, though she let as much untainted blood as possible flow through the barricade. After all, Farn¡¯s brain still needed oxygen.

    She had to take down the barrier soon afterwards, though, because Farn''s body began to shake uncontrollably from the vibrations that the second battle caused. Sighing, Aurelie made her Spirit Energy into a mist and made it stick close to Farn¡¯s veins, letting the tainted blood pass through, though there were still some collisions. Aurelie refused to give up on helping her friend, though.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    This time, she went to the battle directly.

    Aurelie made her small sphere of Spirit Energy approach Farn¡¯s flood of Spirit Energy. She cautiously extended a tendril to judge his reaction to her. When it wasn¡¯t negative, she let her Spirit Energy slip into his, strengthening him. But when she tried to take part in an attack together with him, his Spirit Energy blocked hers. It didn¡¯t take long for her to figure out what he wanted to say.

    ¡°¡®Stay out of this and let me deal with it by myself¡¯, huh? How stubborn.¡± She sighed, but there were traces of amusement in her eyes and in her tone. If he could stop her, then he was fine, at least for now. She stretched, and then looked over at Gallo.

    ¡°Why are you so pale?¡± She asked, the amusement in her tone growing stronger.

    Gallo ignored that. ¡°How is Farn?¡± He asked. He truly was pale, and trembling to boot. He looked really scared.

    Aurelie smiled, and made her tone gentler. ¡°Farn will be fine, Gallo. He¡¯s just having a bit of trouble with purging the energy I told you about. But he¡¯s winning. He should wake up within three hours.¡±

    Gallo nodded slowly, digesting this.

    ¡°Anyhow, I¡¯m really hungry right now. What¡¯s for¡­¡± Aurelie looked up at the sky, surprised to see stars. ¡°...Dinner, I guess. My, how time flies.¡±

    Gallo scratched his head. ¡°I made a simple stew, using the wolves¡¯ bodies.¡± Through there had only been three accessible corpses, there were still a lot of leftover meat. He had also skinned the pelts and set them aside to dry them, so they could sell them at a later date. His nervous energy had been of some use after all.

    Aurelie smiled and stood up, once again sending thanks that they were on a journey. She wouldn¡¯t have been able to stomach the food otherwise.

    ¡°So, continuing our earlier conversation,¡± Aurelie said after both she and Gallo had sat down, each with their own respective bowls of soup. ¡°What Fruit do you think we¡¯re dealing with?¡±

    Gallo took an experimental sip of soup and made a face. ¡°I thought more about that while you were taking care of Farn. I¡¯ve narrowed it down to two Fruits, based on the climate here, the location, and the excitation properties of the Fruit. Most Spirit Fruit with the excitation property do it through scent. This energy you talked about is pretty rare. I think it¡¯s either the Umret Fruit or the Pella Fruit. The Umret Fruit lets you gain a stage of cultivation, as well as purifies the energy you already have, strengthening your foundations. The Pella Fruit adds two stages to your cultivation. Of course, there are other possibilities. I don¡¯t actually know the conditions within the cave, and that affects my conclusions.¡±

    Aurelie nodded, thinking. Gallo did the same. The rest of the meal passed in silence.

    After washing her bowl and placing it back in her storage ring, Aurelie went back to Farn¡¯s side. She observed where he was now. The second stage of the assault had begun. She frowned as she noticed it was going a lot slower than she thought it would for his Spirit Energy to soak into his brain cells. But it was going well enough, so Aurelie shrugged and moved away a bit, so as to go to quietly cultivate for the night, making sure to periodically check on her friend.

 The Cave

    In the end, Farn woke up the next morning. Aurelie and Gallo were in the middle of breakfast (some berries dipped in a liquid that tasted like a combination of honey and maple syrup) when they heard a low groan. Putting their plates down, Aurelie and Gallo walked to where Farn was now sitting up.

    ¡°How do you feel?¡± Gallo asked, the concern in his voice evident. Farn didn¡¯t reply, instead staring at his own hands as though they were alien life forms. Gallo frowned, waving his hand in front of Farn¡¯s face. ¡°Farn?¡± He asked, the concern in his voice morphing to worry. Farn still didn¡¯t respond.

    The words ¡®permanent brain damage¡¯ running through her head, Aurelie discreetly took a few steps towards her unresponsive friend, taking back active control of the small ball of Spirit Energy she had left in Farn to monitor his progress with his battle. It was in the same position she had left it.

    She quickly took a look around. There wasn¡¯t even a trace of red, the foreign power having been completely eradicated by Farn. There was also a white, shining, swirling fog of Spirit Energy forming a barrier around Farn¡¯s brain. But that wasn¡¯t what she¡¯d come to see.

    Looking at Farn¡¯s brain, she quickly scanned it, looking for a chunk of brain missing, scarred tissue, tiny wounds. Even a single injured brain cell. But there was no harm done in Farn¡¯s brain, no indication of the battle she had seen taking place the previous day. She frowned. While it was good that Farn, and his brain, were intact, she felt uneasy. If he was fine, why was he acting this way? Was he harmed in such a subtle way that she hadn¡¯t noticed it? Aurelie immediately scanned him again, searching every nook and cranny of the organ in question. She looked for seemingly unnatural gaps in his neural networks, for cells that looked like they had moved around a bit too much.

    Nothing. Physically speaking, there was nothing wrong with Farn¡¯s brain. Aurelie withdrew her Spirit Power back into herself, pondering what could have possibly happened.

    ¡°Done with your probing?¡± Farn¡¯s voice asked, and Aurelie jumped slightly, opening her eyes. She had unconsciously closed her eyes to focus better on her Spirit Power to sensing Farn¡¯s brain, and hadn¡¯t opened them when her focus shifted to alternative answers to the question of Farn¡¯s behavior.

    ¡°Are you okay?¡± She asked, worry quickly overcoming her surprise.

    Farn nodded. ¡°I was just¡­ slightly overwhelmed.¡±

    Aurelie resisted the urge to tease him and say ¡°I know I¡¯m pretty, but you aren¡¯t my type.¡±. Now really wasn¡¯t the best time for jokes, and she was genuinely curious.

    ¡°Overwhelmed by what?¡± Gallo asked, taking advantage of the momentary pause in Aurelie¡¯s response, which she had used to compose herself, to beat her to the punch.

    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ I have no idea how to describe it. I can¡­ remember. Not like I used to, but I can remember¡­ everything. Like, before, there were a few fuzzy memories, and some things I forgot. But now, I remember everything! I even know where the sock I misplaced when I was two is!¡± Farn said, the excitement in his eyes and voice growing as he spoke, as though saying it out loud made the truth sink in.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    Gallo looked amazed, but Aurelie froze. Wasn¡¯t that the description of the eidetic memory she possessed? How did Farn suddenly gain it?

    Unbidden, the image of a formless white Spirit Energy slowly seeping into a brain popped into her head. Her eyes flashed in understanding. It had been true that Farn¡¯s brain had taken a much longer time in taking up his Spirit Energy. Could that be because Farn¡¯s Spirit Energy needed to make changes to Farn¡¯s brain, changes which she hadn¡¯t needed because she already had them? That would definitely explain things¡­

    ¡°Aurelie? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Gallo asked. He had just helped Farn to his feet and turned towards her, about to remark that they go back to their breakfast, when he noticed that the red haired girl was staring at the spot where Farn was sitting, deep in thought.

    His voice seemed to break her concentration, though, and she looked up smiling. ¡°Nothing at all.¡± She sang, then headed back to her food, sitting on a rock as though it were a custom-made chair and digging in.

    Farn and Gallo glanced at each other and shrugged, both exasperatedly thinking, ¡®Girls.¡¯

    ~~~~~~~

    It was decided that they would enter the cave the next day. The rest of that day was used to stock up on food and water, as well as cultivation and sleep. As such, when they finally entered on their third day in the clearing, the three of them were in their peak state, well rested, and cautiously confident (over confidence was fatal, as they had all learned). Aurelie still felt somewhat nervous, though, as they approached the cave.

    She didn¡¯t know why, but she felt as though there were some ancient, powerful force that was watching them, telling them that entering would be a bad idea. But the feeling was slight, and she was barely aware of it. The others didn¡¯t notice it at all.

    Despite their obliviousness, there was still a tense atmosphere as they entered the dark depths of the stone cavern¡­

    ~~~~~~~

    Two hours later

    The slow, quiet drip of a drop of water periodically falling and splashing onto a stone on the floor continuously disturbed the darkness and silence. It grated on Farn¡¯s taut nerves, but he was wound up too tight, was far too aware of what the darkness held, to remark. He watched out of the narrow crack in the wall, through which he had squeezed through in order to get to this relatively safe position. Where he was now was between two rock walls, a small pocket of space in the cave. The crack was the only way out. It was also the only way in.

    Next to him, a bit further in the pocket, Gallo pressed his set of spare clothes against Aurelie¡¯s midsection. Her shirt was in shreds (though every thing that had to be covered was still covered), and there were huge, gaping wounds across her stomach which had provided a seemingly endless supply of blood. Farn had made the bleeding slow to a trickle, but it was still a very serious wound. Gallo then Aurelie¡¯s face with a wet cloth, both cleaning the blood off of her face, where she had smashed against the cave, and hoping the dampness would rouse the youngest member of their group into consciousness.

    It didn¡¯t work, Aurelie¡¯s face remaining a deathly pale. Farn would have wondered if she was still alive, if he couldn¡¯t see the slight movement of her chest which indicated that she was still breathing, no matter how weak that breathing may have been. The blood on the forehead, midsection, and face gleamed in the light of the small fire Gallo had lit, the color darker than that of her hair. Farn sincerely hoped she would wake up soon.

    Heaven knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with that- that thing- on his own.

 The Beast

    Two hours earlier (when they entered the cave)

    Aurelie and co. squinted in the low light of the cave, trying to see what was in front of them. Their power as cultivators gave them better night vision than usual, but the darkness was so dense that even with this advantage, Aurelie couldn¡¯t even see her own hands. Behind her, Gallo and Farn shifted uncomfortably. While they had no bad memories in such dark places, they liked to be able to see what was in front of them, thank you very much.

    Aurelie, on the other hand, was used to the darkness. She had undergone rigorous training to ensure that she wasn¡¯t wholly reliant on her sense of sight, as most others were. However, she still shivered in cave. The last time she had been in a place this dark was the place she had stayed in between Earth and Sorainella, after she had fallen off of the building, but before she had fallen into the forest. That weird place where physics didn¡¯t seem to apply, and she didn¡¯t breathe, and was so strange that it made her skin crawl just thinking about it¡­ Shaking the memories off, Aurelie desperately wished for a light source to suddenly appear.

    Then she remembered, in a eureka moment that cut through the fear, that she did have a light source. She summoned her phone out of her ring, turning on the flashlight. Farn and Gallo looked at one another in amazement (well, in each others¡¯ general direction), then moved so that they were standing next to Aurelie, benefitting from the light fully.

    About five minutes of walking in silence, Gallo reached down and picked up a few sturdy, thick, club-like sticks, and rummaged in his pockets, finally pulling out a small red ball. He crushed the ball, letting the powder fall onto three of the sticks he¡¯d picked up which ignited them. He passed out the makeshift torches, one per person, and a back up as well.

    The powder was from a beast called the Flaming Monkey. Whenever one was killed, at least five such spheres were produced. Whenever the sphere was crushed, it would turn into a powder that automatically ignited whatever it touched, though it¡¯s fire only lasted five minutes on inflammable surfaces. Flammable surfaces, like wood, caught fire until they burned completely. The Flaming Monkey¡¯s weren¡¯t rare, but were hunted down so humans could obtain the red spheres. Recently, though, Alchemists had found a cheap and easy way to mass produce the spheres, and they became so common that even a poor person like Gallo could easily obtain as many as he needed.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to keep the light up anymore. Wasting your Spirit Power right now isn¡¯t a good idea. Conservation never hurt anyone.¡± He said kindly. Aurelie nodded, glad that he had thought the phone¡¯s flashlight wasn¡¯t due to anything out of this world, and turned off the flashlight. Though her phone was at ninety-five percent, Gallo had been right. Conservation had never hurt anyone.

    The flames flickered, and the light they provided created shadows that danced around them, as though the darkness was just waiting for a chance to advance and swallow them whole.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    ~~~~~~~

    The beast didn¡¯t mind the darkness. He was a being of the dark, could make his way through the dark with the grace and soundlessness of a dancer. His prey, those who entered the darkness and the stone, couldn¡¯t handle the deep blackness he was so accustomed to. Their reliance on the light of the world outside of the cave immediately announced their presence in his domain. He didn¡¯t kill them immediately, though. If he struck immediately, it was likely that at least one of them would be able to make it outside. He found it a waste for such a delicious meal to escape.

    He enjoyed teasing them, leaving little hints of his presence here and there, making them slowly aware that there was another being in the cave, one who could easily kill them.

    Oh yes, he liked to wait until they were well within the winding stone pathways, such that when he struck, even if someone escaped the battle, they would be blinded by the dark, panicking and letting the delicious scent of fear emanate from them in waves. And then he would eat them, when they were terrified out of their minds. He salivated at the thought.

    Besides, going out to hunt them meant that he would have to go out to and leave the delicious fruit behind. He didn¡¯t want to leave the fruit. It was his, it was his, it was his, it was his. His, his, his! All HIS!

    Within the beast, though he was unaware of it, red energy had completely fused with his brain, his blood, his organs, and every single cell in his body¡­

    ~~~~~~~

    Quickly, his head snapped up, catching faint flickers of light. More prey had entered. He smiled, revealing rows of gleaming fang, and went out to hunt.

    ~~~~~~~

    He had been following them for two hours now, and he was decidedly unhappy. He couldn¡¯t play his usual game, couldn¡¯t stalk them as openly as he liked. The reason for that was the girl. Everytime he got close, she would snap her head in his direction, her eyes narrowed as she attempted to penetrate the gloom. After a while, she would shrug and turn back, but after this had happened three times, she told her friends. They were scared, but they were still feeling brave. It upset him, not being able to control the hunt, to smell their fear.

    He didn¡¯t like the girl for another reason, too. She reminded him of fire, with her bright red hair that burned in the light and her glittering blue eyes, so like the heart of a flame. He disliked fire, hated the way it hurt his eyes. It was why he always made sure to blow out his prey¡¯s torches before he made his move.

    The girl would go first, he decided, pouncing at the group of three. The wind brought by his large body as he whistled through the air blew out the fire, but not so fast that they couldn¡¯t see him for a brief moment.

    He let them soak him in, preening at the fear in their eyes. Did they see the way he stood above them, towering over them like an invincible mountain? Did they imagine being ripped to shreds by his claws and fangs, which sliced into the floor as though it were made of butter? Did they tremble upon seeing his grey fur, matted with the blood of the hundreds of other humans that had fallen victim to him?

    Allowing them a minute to soak in his brilliance, he swatted at the little girl who annoyed him so.

 Healing

    Farn¡¯s brain had just begun to process the sight of the monstrous creature before him before he felt another gale of wind. Then, he heard a short, sharp scream and a dull thud. The scream was cut short.

    Farn¡¯s chest constricted. Aurelie. He stumbled blindly in the dark, trying to go in the direction of her voice. They needed to stick together. He had already lost someone very close to him. He wasn¡¯t sure he could bear losing someone else so soon afterwards.

    Gallo ,slightly more logical than Farn, grabbed five Flame Spheres, rushing forward in a straight line and letting the powder fall. At the same time, he sprinkled a white powder into the flame, making it burn brighter and stronger. Aurelie had given him the powder. ¡®I got this from a merchant I helped out. It¡¯s the Sorainellan equivalent of gunpowder, though it doesn¡¯t explode.¡¯ she¡¯d told him as she shrugged, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. He hadn¡¯t understood what she was comparing the powder too, but he knew the powder was very flammable, and allowed the fires of the spheres to burn for up to ten minutes, as well as making the flame brighter and harder to put out.

    The light blinded all of them momentarily, but the humans recovered quickly, while the monster roared in pain and staggered away.

    The light allowed Farn to see Aurelie, lying pale and limp against the wall, He took in a sharp breath at the sight of the gaping claw mark across her stomach. She was out cold, the trickle of blood down her forehead an indication that she had hit her head. But his main focus was on the blood gushing out of the wound on her midsection. She needed treatment, and she needed it urgently. But they couldn¡¯t get it here.

    ¡°This way!¡± He heard Gallo shout, and saw that the other man had spotted a crevice that they could squeeze into such that the creature wouldn¡¯t be able to follow them. He gathered Aurelie in his arms and ran towards the crevice. Gallo, for his part, picked up the sticks that had scattered, thrusting them into the fire so that they were aflame, and then dashing into the crack in the wall, Farn hot on his heels.

    They had to squeeze through the crack, but it widened out eventually into a mini-cave. Well, actually, it was more like a sphere had been cut out of the cave wall. It was roomy enough for them to be comfortable, but not so roomy that they couldn¡¯t not feel claustrophobia beginning to set in.

    Swallowing the new surge of panic and fear, Farn laid Aurelie down gently while Gallo created a small camp fire with the burning sticks so they could see each other. When he finished, he went to Aurelie¡¯s side, gasping when he saw her injuries.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    When he had created the fire outside, he¡¯d only glanced at her long enough to see that she was unconscious, and that Farn was heading her way, undoubtedly going to help her. Gallo decided to help all three of them and find a safe location for them to hide in and help Aurelie recover from her injuries.

    The second he¡¯d seen the crack on the wall, something in him screamed that that was a safe place, that he needed to go there immediately. He listened to the voice, calling for Farn to come over and bring Aurelie with him. He¡¯d spotted the sticks on his way in, and realized that they would need light in order to heal her.

    Regardless, the fact was that this was Gallo¡¯s first time truly seeing the full extent of Aurelie¡¯s injuries. Farn had just set her down for about a minute, but there was already a small puddle of blood forming under her body, and Farn¡¯s own clothes were soaked in the girl¡¯s blood, his palms slick with the liquid. She was far paler than usual, and her breathing was weak and thready.

    For the first time in a while, Gallo was truly afraid that the person before him was going to die.

    He immediately began to tend to her wounds, summoning his clothes from the storage ring he¡¯d been gifted with when he left Meir Village. He pressed the cloth against Aurelie¡¯s wounds. The pressure naturally brought about more pain, to the point that even unconscious, Aurelie began to shift uncomfortably and made a face. Gallo ignored this, and even her soft groan, attempting to stop the blood flow. She was going to bleed out within ten minutes, if this kept up.

    Quickly, his clothes began to get saturated, as well. At this point in time, just as he was panicking, Gallo heard a terse voice grunt out the word, ¡°Move.¡±

    Gallo threw himself out of the way, and a gentle ray of light fell upon Aurelie. He watched as the bleeding slowed, then practically stopped. Next to her, Farn held himself stiffly pointing at Aurelie. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that Farn was using a Healing Technique on Aurelie.

    It wasn¡¯t strange for Farn to know a Healing Technique, and for Gallo not to. Healing Techniques were far rarer than Martial Techniques, and far more valuable. As such, a normal villager such as Gallo couldn¡¯t learn one, though Farn could, as son of the Village Head of Lejus Village. Not even Aurelie, even with all her contributions to Lejus and Meir, knew a Healing Technique.

    Unfortunately, Farn could only keep it up for a minute before he ran out of Spirit Power, practically collapsing as he stopped the light.

    ¡°Sorry I couldn¡¯t do that immediately. I knew the technique, but it took me some time to get the movements right.¡± Farn gasped out from where he kneeled on the floor.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine, you did enough. Rest now, regain your Spirit Power. It would be nice if you could stand sentry,¡± Gallo said gently.

    Quietly, he summoned a handkerchief from his ring, wetting it with the contents of his water skin. Farn walked over to the only entrance and exit, sitting down before it, both keeping watch and silently recovering his strength.

 Apologies

    Gallo stoked the fire next to him, watching the as a spray of sparks leapt into the air and the fire let out a new spurt of warmth. The wood was already mostly burnt, though, and it was obvious that the fire wouldn¡¯t last for much longer. Nervously, Gallo looked at Farn, who was still cultivating. It had been an hour since Farn had slowed Aurelie¡¯s bleeding down and consequently used up all his Spirit Power. Farn had recovered about half an hour afterwards and kept watch for an hour until they agreed that it was unlikely that the monster was going to come in through there. Farn had re-entered his cultivation state and handn¡¯t even twitched since. Gallo didn¡¯t want to bother him, so he decided to take sole responsibility for his plan.

    Carefully, Gallo slid Aurelie¡¯s storage ring off her finger, though he apologized for his actions in advance.

    ¡®I¡¯m really sorry Aurelie, but Farn didn¡¯t bring any spare clothes, and I only got one spare set and that¡¯s already soaked. You need bandages, so I decided, on my own, that I would have to cut up your clothes in order to make them. I promise I¡¯ll only use the really worn out and ratty clothes, so please forgive me for this intrusion of privacy.¡¯ He said in his mind, not wanting to disturb Farn.

    Then, without further ado, he inserted a tendril of Spirit Energy into the ring.

    There were two methods of access to a storage ring. One was the standard method Aurelie used, which was to just summon whatever it was she wanted from her ring, visualizing the item and then sending in her Spirit Energy. The other was used more when you had no idea what exactly was inside. It was as though you projected your consciousness into the ring, letting you go through the contents yourself. This was the method Gallo used now.

    While it was true he knew what he wanted- clothes- he had no idea which clothes exactly. If he used the first method and used the vague word ¡®clothes¡¯ as his point of summoning, then he could get anything from her best outfit to her underwear. He didn¡¯t want to get her underwear. It would not only be embarrassing for both of them, she would probably kill him.

    Slowly opening his eyes, Gallo took a look around. He was in a room. Stacked up in a corner of the room, there were incandescent boxes, made such that only the shimmering outline of the box could be seen. It had no color, and was fully transparent. In the opposite corner there was a dresser, in the same form as the boxes. In another corner was a table made of the same material as all the other furniture, piled high with weapons. There was also that black box that emitted light sitting there. Gallo knew that the weirdness of the furniture was due to the fact that they weren¡¯t actually there. While they held her stuff, Aurelie couldn¡¯t summon them out of her ring.

    Gallo made his way to the dresser, apologized for his actions again, and opened the doors. Inside, there was a row of tops dangling from hangers made of the same material as all the other furniture. Relieved that there were no unmentionables lying around, he quickly went through the hangers, looking for any shirt he didn¡¯t think would be missed. He finally settled on a too big shirt he¡¯d seen her using as a nightshirt. Incidentally, this was the same shirt she had been wearing during the confrontation with Tanor, though he didn¡¯t know that. Grabbing the shirt, Gallo exited the ring. He put the t-shirt down next to him, slipped the ring off of his finger, and back to its appropriate place on Aurelie¡¯s finger.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    Taking out his knife, Gallo first cut off the tattered lower half of Aurelie¡¯s current shirt, turning it into a halter top of sorts, while wincing and apologizing again. But it really couldn¡¯t be helped. The little scraps were beginning to stick to her wounds, and if he didn¡¯t cut them off, it would be rather annoying, and he would have to have more contact with her body than strictly necessary, and that would lead to awkwardness and possible bloodshed. After that, he began to cut the shirt into one long strip, which he then proceeded to wrap around her wounds. The bandages did their job, soaking up the trickle of blood that still seeped from her wounds.

    Tying the bandage off, Gallo leaned back to evaluate his handiwork with a critical eye. Not finding any glaring mistakes, he got up and went to the entrance, stepping around Farn. The monster hadn¡¯t done anything since they came in, and Gallo hoped it understood that if it attacked the wall, then there was a possibility that the entire cave would come down around them. He also wished the monster didn¡¯t know that they would have to leave soon, or else¡­

    His grim thoughts were interrupted by the sudden absence of World Energy in his surroundings. Gallo whirled around, gaping at Farn, the origin of the suctioning force that pulled all the World Energy. Then he grew incredibly excited, though he refrained from giving any outward indication, not wanting to disturb the older boy. This suction meant that Farn was in the process of breaking through into the fifth stage of the Master Realm!

    Gallo sat down carefully, watching the entrance wearily while keeping an eye on Aurelie and Farn, his skin prickling with awareness. His excitement faded, and he suddenly felt like telling Farn to hurry up. Something was going to happen soon, he could feel it in the air. It was why, after a long debate with himself, he had finally decided to go ahead with his bandage idea. He could tell that they would need to move soon, and keeping a wad of cloth pressed against Aurelie¡¯s abdomen was impractical.

    The suction stopped. Farn opened his eyes, letting out a breath and relaxing. Gallo jumped up happily.

    ¡°Congratulations Farn!¡± He cheered quietly. No sense in making noise and attracting more predators.

    ¡°Thanks.¡± Farn said, smiling. ¡°How long have I been out?¡±

    ¡°Um, an hour or so. I don¡¯t know for sure.¡± Gallo replied.

    Farn nodded, then his gaze rested on Aurelie.

    ¡°Did she wake up for a bit?¡± He asked.

    Somber, Gallo shook his head. The two of them sat in silence for a moment, then Gallo looked up.

    ¡°Hey, Farn.¡± He called, his tone uncertain.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± Farn replied looking up. Gallo looked around for a little while, refusing to look at Farn, but he seemed to gather his nerve, and his determined eyes met Farn¡¯s curious ones.

    ¡°I think we should give up on the Spirit Fruit.¡±

 Try Again (Part I)

    Farn¡¯s eyes widened, and he said ¡°What?¡± in a somewhat strangled tone, but Gallo was too nervous to notice that Farn didn¡¯t look surprised at the idea.

    ¡°Well, you see, we¡¯re at a disadvantage, right? What with Aurelie being hurt. Plus, she needs treatment, treatment we can¡¯t give her in here. She could die, Farn. Also, we don¡¯t have enough food for an extended stay in the cave, and if we have to stay in the cave and hide from that monster, then we¡¯re gonna be here for a while, and that¡¯s not even taking into account the fact we could get lost. And I don¡¯t think the beast will be able to follow us out of the cave, because light hurts his eyes.¡± Gallo said in a hurry. ¡°And, speaking of light, we won¡¯t have any light in a while.¡± He added, gesturing at the dying fire.

    Farn stayed quiet.

    ¡°I was also thinking that when we got out, we could call Mrs. Dreslin. Then, we could give the Fruits to the Seven Heavens Academy. This helps us curry favor with the school. Plus, they have a policy about this sort of thing. Whenever someone either gives them Spirit Fruit or the exact location of a Spirit Fruit, they get a percentage of the Fruit obtained. The percentage changes depending on the rarity of the Fruit, the amount of the Fruit, and the relationship the individual has with the school, so I can¡¯t tell you how much we¡¯re gonna get, but we can get some.¡± Gallo tried again.

    ¡°No need to convince me. I was actually thinking the same thing as you. The reason I was so surprised was because you literally took the words out of my mouth.¡± Farn said with a grin. Gallo smiled back at him in relief.

    ¡°So now it¡¯s just¡­¡± Gallo looked at Aurelie¡¯s still form laying on the cold, stone floor.

    Farn shrugged. ¡°Aurelie¡¯s smart, she¡¯ll understand that what we¡¯re doing is for the best. Besides, she¡¯s out cold. She can¡¯t exactly tell us whether or not she agrees with this plan.¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah, but¡­¡± Gallo trailed off. It wasn¡¯t as though Farn had said anything wrong, but he wasn¡¯t sure things would be as easy as Farn had made them out to be. But, regardless, they needed to move. He could feel a shiver tingling down his spine, the awareness that something was going to happen making goosebumps rise. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± He conceded.

    Farn smirked and nodded, then knelt down next to Aurelie. Gallo helped Farn put Aurelie into the proper position for a piggyback ride, and Farn got up, carrying the unconscious girl on his back.

    Gallo frowned. ¡°There is one problem, though. Getting here took us a couple of hours. I mean, if we run, we could probably make it to the entrance in half an hour. But how are we going to escape the beast for that long?¡±

    Farn frowned as well, considering. Then his eyes lit up. ¡°That thing was weak to light, right?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Yeah, but it doused the torches easily enough, and there¡¯s too little of that white powder Aurelie gave me to last us the entire way. We could try to throw it only when we think that thing¡¯s around, but we can¡¯t sense it, and it moves too fast for us to throw it after it strikes.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°That¡¯s not what I was thinking of. Remember that light thingie Aurelie had at the beginning of the cave? It¡¯s light was brighter, and I don¡¯t think that light can be put out as easily as the fire was.¡± Farn said.

    Gallo nodded. ¡°But¡­ that box was in her storage ring¡­¡± He said nervously.

    ¡°... You went into her storage ring?¡± Farn asked, raising his eyebrow in incredulousness.

    ¡°...She needed bandages.¡± Gallo replied, watching the stone floor very closely. Farn thought back to the bandages Aurelie had wrapped around her middle, belatedly realizing that the cloth was the same as the cloth of the large night shirt she¡¯d worn while her plan against Tanor and Planos played out.

    ¡°I see. Well then, you get it.¡± Farn said decisively.

    ¡°Huh? Why me?¡± Gallo asked indignantly.

    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve already been through it, so you should do it.¡± Farn replied. Gallo grit his teeth, but the argument was logical. It was just one more thing to apologize for. Letting out a sigh, he reached for her ring again, pulling it off her finger and back onto his.

    This time, he was well aware of what it was he wanted, so he just directly summoned it from her ring. The black box was sleek and cold to the touch. There was a weirdly shaped white blob on it, and Gallo had precisely zero idea as to how to make it work. So he passed it to Farn.

    Farn looked at it too, for a moment, before remembering that Aurelie had pressed the white box on the small indent in the bottom of the box. He flipped the box around, finally seeing what he was looking for.

    Gently, keeping in mind that Aurelie held this- what was the word?- phone in high regard, Farn gently depressed the little box, then nearly dropped the phone in shock as it lit up. Luckily, his reflexes kept the phone from hitting the ground and breaking.

    Taking a deep breath, he looked at the box again. What was it that Aurelie had done next? Press on the button again, he was pretty sure. So he did that again. Suddenly, fourteen circles popped up on screen. There were strange symbols in ten of them (he hadn¡¯t been taught numbers yet), though he recognized the alphabet, a few letters in a line beneath the symbol per circle.

    He stared at the circles for a while, keeping his thumb where it was. But then the four small button at the top of the screen filled up white, then the entire screen shook and the phone vibrated, making Farn almost drop it again. The words ¡®Try Again¡¯ appeared at the top of the screen. Farn looked at it in confusion. ¡®Try what again? I didn¡¯t try anything to begin with!¡¯

    Without warning, Gallo grabbed his arm and tugged him into the passageway. The space they were now in was so narrow, Farn couldn¡¯t breathe without his chest pressing against the rock, and he was fairly certain that Aurelie was squished. He snuck a glance at Gallo, clearly conveying his question of why exactly they were in the tiny passage right now. Gallo looked back at him.

    ¡°I had a bad feeling.¡± He explained. Farn nodded, understanding how these things were, and got as much into a battle ready stance as he could. In other words, he took out a staff, his preferred weapon, realized that he couldn¡¯t wield it in the small space, put it back into his own storage ring, and pondered what else he could do. Nothing, really, he realized, other than brace himself. But tensing up would only squish Aurelie even more, and not really do any good, so he abandoned the idea. Instead, he focussed on the message on the phone. What did ¡®Try Again¡¯ mean? But he only had a moment to ponder this before the rock began to shake.

    A massive claw covered in matted grey fur thrust up from the ground.

 Try Again (Part II)

    The monster was smart. It knew that the narrow passageway was probably important in terms of the cave¡¯s stability, so it didn¡¯t plow through it, but instead chose to dig down, under the floor, to reach his prey.

    But it had still been thwarted. The two male humans had gone into the very crevice he had avoided, and the girl human was still alive. His rage grew with that knowledge, and he growled harshly, more determined than ever to kill them and to KILL THEM NOW.

    But how? He didn¡¯t want to destroy the wall and possibly the cave. The cave sheltered him from the painful light of the outside world, he didn¡¯t want to destroy it¡­

    In any case, they would have to come out soon enough. If they wanted to save the girl, then they would need to get her out of the cave. And even if they decided to leave her to die, they would run out of food soon enough.

    And so he decided to settle into a waiting game with his prey once again.

    ~~~~~~~

    For his part, Farn was desperately moving around, trying to find a position in which he and Aurelie weren¡¯t getting their life squeezed out, and Farn could still attempt to tinker with Aurelie¡¯s phone in the hope of somehow getting the damn thing to open. He knew that Spirit Energy wasn¡¯t the solution. Aurelie had had the phone with her when they had first met, long before she became a practitioner.

    And then there was that message. ¡®Try Again¡¯. He hadn¡¯t done anything, not that he¡¯d noticed. But obviously the device had thought he had. He quickly went through what he had done. He pressed the button to make the device light up, pressed it again to summon the circles¡­ and then left it there.

    His mind quickly provided him with a reel of Aurelie with the phone. She always let her finger linger on the button, and he realized that sometimes she didn¡¯t even summon the circles. She didn¡¯t push the button a second time, she just let it linger there. Then he remembered that, once, she had put her finger there, frowned, adjusted the finger, and it was only then that the phone had opened. And, when she¡¯d frowned, the phone had vibrated.

    ¡®It has to do with fingers. If I can get Aurelie¡¯s thumb in the same position it usually is in when holding this thing, it will open.¡¯ Farn realized. It sounded like some sort of magic, too ridiculous to even bear thinking about, but this was Aurelie. Everything about her was completely insane. It would make sense if that included her belongings too.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°Gallo, give me Aurelie¡¯s hand.¡± He barked.

    Gallo balked. ¡°Wha- what? No! I am not cutting off Aurelie¡¯s arm!¡± He cried.

    Farn gaped. ¡°How is that the first thing that comes to your mind when I ask for her arm, idiot?!?¡±

    ¡°Well, you looked really panicked, and I thought you were thinking about cutting off her arm and throwing it to distract the monster, or to give us some more room in here! I don¡¯t know!¡± Gallo cried, and Farn realized that the other conscious person with him was panicking and well on his way to hysterics. And, apparently, Gallo turned very morbid when spooked.

    ¡°Gallo.¡± Farn said calmly, trying to force his faked tranquility into him. ¡°No one is going to be cutting off their limbs, or the limbs of others, to create a distraction¡±- though that was actually a pretty good idea, and Farn resolved to use it on himself in an emergency- ¡° and I found out how to open this thing, but I need Aurelie¡¯s hand for that. Could you, I don¡¯t know, pass it to me or something? Preferably without maiming it?¡±

    ¡°Oh. Yeah. Of course. Wait, lemme¡­¡± Gallo busied himself in trying to find Aurelie¡¯s hand in the near darkness, desperately hoping that he wasn¡¯t touching her anywhere inappropriate, and trying to stop the flush of mortification that rose up his neck and into his cheeks at the memory of his rather stupid misunderstanding.

    ¡®Of course that¡¯s what Farn meant, you stupid oaf. What¡¯s wrong with you?¡¯ He berated himself mentally, finally finding Aurelie¡¯s hand and passing it over Farn¡¯s shoulder.

    It took some maneuvering, a lot of cursing, more discomfort and pain, and they were all covered in multiple new scrapes (including the unconscious Aurelie, which prompted Gallo to mutter that she was going to bleed to death before they ever got out of the cave) but Farn managed to get Aurelie¡¯s thumb onto the phone¡¯s button and position her finger correctly.

    The phone clicked open, multiple boxes zooming onto the screen. Farn stared at them quizzically for a moment before swiping up from the bottom of the screen using Aurelie¡¯s limp fingers. He didn¡¯t want to risk the phone exploding or something if someone other than Aurelie touched it now that it was open.

    A menu of sorts slid up, and Farn guided Aurelie¡¯s finger to press the glass of the same icon that she had pressed at the beginning of the cave. A high powered beam of light sliced through the darkness, making Farn and Gallo let out a joyful cheer. They then immediately began to wiggle out of the crack in which they were wedged.

    Farn handed the phone to Gallo, and the two of them were off. Farn gripped Aurelie tightly to ensure she didn¡¯t fall off his back, and Gallo ran behind him, waving the phone around like a madman as he stuck as close to Farn¡¯s heels. The light warded off the monster, and Farn was more thankful than ever for his now flawless memory. It had helped him figure out how to get the phone open and was now providing a perfect account of all the turns they¡¯d made on the way in, all the places they¡¯d gone.

    As a result, they made it out of the cave without any more encounters with the monster, collapsing onto the grass outside and letting the sun warm them with its gentle rays, gasping for air and sweating and smiling and laughing in relief in between breaths.

 An Apology from the Author (NO I am not discontinuing this story)

    I said I would have a new chapter out in June. It is now July. And at this rate, I seriously think I won''t get an opportunity to write until August.

    Why has this happened, you ask? Because I have severely underestimated the 11th grade, that''s why. I have at least one paper due per subject over the summer, we have exams in SEPTEMBER (because colleges can''t set their application deadlines for after final exams, or even midterms), and our school has decided that all common app essays are due over the summer so our English teachers can take a look at them. And then I have an internship at a hospital.

    Sorry for ranting, but basically, I don''t think I''ll have anytime to write until school restarts and I can type chapters up on the bus.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    But I AM NOT DROPPING THIS BOOK.

    Just... please be a bit more patient. Please.

    EDIT: It''s been a really long time, and I apologize for that. The past two years have been incredibly difficult, on multiple different fronts, and at one point I just completely lost all motivation to write this story at all. But I''m back now. In a sense. Re-reading what I''ve written so far has made me shudder, so I''m planning to re-write everything I have so far, and then continuing with the plot. I like to think that I''ve polished my writing style at least somewhat over the past two years, so hopefully this version will be better. I''ll also be filling in any plot holes I find (there are a lot) so some of the plot points of the story might change as well. As soon as I''ve gotten an actual new chapter out, I''ll delete this chapter.

    Thank you to anyone who may have been waiting for me, and I sincerely apologize for the long wait.