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Chapter 134

Mystery

Lucas sighed. “Nope. No signal back. It seems as though I still have to travel with you.”

Chu Shen hit him in the side. “You’re not getting away from me that easy. We’re sticking together until we can both get home.”

Lucas gave him a sad grin. “Well, it sure does look that way.”

Chu Shen glanced around for something to distract Lucas with. He remembered that building from earlier and immediately zoomed in on it. “Hey Lucas, think we can go explore that command center with Aslo and Chrissa? They’ll get bored if they stay in there much longer.”

Lucas suddenly remembered Aslo and Chrissa were still inside his pocket dimension. “Oh yeah. I should probably let them out.”

Aslo and Chrissa suddenly appeared in front of them. As soon as Aslo appeared he jumped towards Lucas and hit him in the arm. “What is up with everybody hitting me today!” Lucas rubbed his arm and glared at everyone.

“Hey!” Aslo got right up in Lucas’ face. “Just because you’re one of the saviors doesn’t mean I can’t hit you. We came along to repay you, not to get transported around like some sword inside your Spatial Bag or whatever you have! Come on! How can we help you if we can’t even face some danger with you!”

Chu Shen sighed. “Aslo, while it’s true that you could have helped out, all you would have been able to do was flee with us. Unlike you though, Lucas can fly without massive energy drain. Because of that, he stayed behind, as did I, because I could help him block things from a distance.”

“But still, we could have-”

“Enough!” Chu Shen finally had enough. “We called you out because we thought you were bored, not to have an argument. Anyways, we were going to go inside that building over there to see if we could figure out why this town was abandoned.”

Aslo finally looked around him. “WHAT! That building…… It’s as tall as a mountain! So is that one! Sis! Look at all these huge buildings! Chu Shen, what kind of magical place is this?”

Chu Shen smiled. “It’s not magical Aslo. It’s the city.”

Chrissa approached Lucas and spoke shyly to him. “So, why would this building answer why the town was abandoned?”

“Well because it’s the command center for the planet’s military.” He explained casually.

She nodded before whispering. “So this town’s name is ‘planet’?”

“Hmm? Oh, no it’s not. The term planet is used for celestial bodies that orbit the sun. We are currently on a planet right now.”

Chrissa glanced at the ground and then pointed up at the sun.

Lucas facepalmed. “I’ll explain this later. Chu Shen! Are we going inside?”

Chu Shen nodded. “Yeah, let’s go in now.”

Soon after Chu Shen and the gang went towards the Planetary Defense Command Center. It took them multiple tries to enter. Chu Shen had to smash a hole through the door for them to gain access to the building. Upon entering the smell of death and decay was heavy.

Glancing around Chu Shen saw bodies strewn across the halls as though they had died mid-stride. Mildewed clothes and bones could be seen. Only small bits of flesh hadn’t decayed yet on the bodies. There was some things that were really puzzling though. There were scales littered around the bodies. The bones also didn’t match those of a human. The fingers were longer than a human’s and the mouth was filled with needle-like teeth.

Lucas ignored the dead bodies and went over to one of the walls. A compound map was there. “Follow me, the tactical room is this way.” Everyone followed Lucas, though Chrissa walked far away from any of the bodies. They walked through several rooms and hallways, all with a body or two at least, before arriving at a large room. Inside the room was a large mushroom shaped stand.

Lucas immediately discovered it was a holo-projector. Going over to it, Lucas pressed the button labeled power. Nothing happened. He flipped open a panel on his arm and a cable emerged from it. He cut open several cables leading to the holo-display before discovering the one that carried power to it. He spliced the power cable with the one from his arm before supplying it with power.

Suddenly the entire room was lit up with a blue 3D display. There was the image of a solar system with ten planets floating in front of them with the sun of the system above the holo-projector. There were ships surrounding the fifth planet from the sun. There was only four or five of them and they seemed to be headed away from the planet.

Out by the ninth planet was a massive cloud of spaceships. Some were bright blue and others a blood red color. The red ships far outnumbered the blue. There were also blue, human shaped icons scattered amongst them.

The most eye catching thing though was a large white ribbon that was right next to the fifth planet. The holographic image of it was pixelated and distorted, as though something had been interfering with the image.

Aslo and Chrissa both jumped upon seeing this hologram appear out of nowhere. “What is this Chu Shen?!” He asked pointing at it.

Chu Shen sighed. This was starting to get really tiring. It seemed as though they would have to receive a lesson in technology from him and Lucas ASAP. “This is a hologram. Essentially it creates an image.” He couldn’t say 3D since they had no idea what 3D represented.

Aslo nodded. “So like a soul projection then? It’s a Rank 4 Light Spell. So, are you a light mage then?”

Chu Shen shook his head. “No. There are machines that can replicate the effects of certain spells. There are a couple branches of creating magic tools and technology is one of them. The Technology Branch of magic tools creates machines that anyone at any level can use. This mushroom thing is a machine that can replicate the soul projection spell.”

“Wow! That’s pretty cool!” Aslo immediately focused on the mushroom object. While he did that, Chu Shen approached Lucas.

“Is there anyway to find out what this image means?” He asked Lucas.

Lucas nodded. “Right now I’m hacking the database for the holo-projector. According to the records I have access to now, they were invaded. About a year before the records ended unknown ships started attacking them. They didn’t have Hyperspace Engines so their FTL (Faster-Than-Light) capabilities were severely hampered, though they did have Tachyon comm systems. The enemy would warp in at the edge of their solar system in droves and attack them. No messages were ever exchanged and their ships were unmanned.”

Lucas suddenly gasped. His head immediately turned towards the fifth planet. He pointed at the mysterious ribbon. “I know what that is.”

“It’s a solar flare.”

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Chapter 133

Abandoned

After the abrupt takeoff, Chu Shen adapted to Lucas’ flight. It wasn’t his first rodeo after all. As they flew towards the city, Lucas expressed some concerns. “Those mechs back there aren’t natural. It’s obvious they were made by somebody, along with the weapon that destroyed my satellite. I’m afraid whoever lives in this city may have more powerful weapons. That could be why the mechs retreated; since we’re going right to them, why should they continue after us?”

Chu Shen shrugged, a gesture Lucas could feel from his grip on Chu Shen. “I’m not sure, but I can say this. I would rather try to negotiate with the person controlling the weapon then to fight the weapon. Maybe we can strike a deal with them.”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Like that’ll ever happen. It never works out like that in the movies.”

Chu Shen hit Lucas in the leg. “Good thing this isn’t a movie.”

Lucas waved his arm around a bit, causing Chu Shen to shake back and forth. “You wanna fall from here, huh? Cause from where I’m flying, it looks like you really want to.”

“STOP IT LUCAS!” Chu Shen smacked Lucas’ hand away, falling below him. Immediately Lucas panicked and dived after him.

“Crap crap CRAP! Chu Shen you crazy sonovagun!” Lucas was just about to catch up to Chu Shen when a round circle of energy appeared below Chu Shen’s feet. Chu Shen pushed off that circle of white light and shot upwards, passing Lucas.

Using his tremendous strength, Chu Shen traveled quite fast. Another circle of white energy appeared beneath his feet which he used to propel himself upwards and forwards. His speed actually matched Lucas’ cruising speed on the jetpack!

Lucas, stunned as he was from this surprise, immediately turned around. “CHU SHEN!!!” He yelled as he opened the throttle on his jetpack. Immediately he shot after Chu Shen. Right as he caught up, Chu Shen jumped upwards while doing a flip, causing his head to become oriented towards Lucas. Kicking off another circle of light, Chu Shen shot towards Lucas and grabbed his neck.

Lucas wobbled from the impact and additional weight before stabilizing his flight. “Chu Shen! Are you crazy?! You could’ve died!” He yelled at Chu Shen.

Chu Shen shrugged. “I just got tired of you always shaking me. Come on, doesn’t it get old? Normally I could put up with it, but this isn’t the time to goof off. We’re in a situation where we don’t know who we are facing or their strength. Get it together, we need to be serious.”

Lucas was stunned at this. “Why didn’t you just say that instead of making me drop you? Also, how did you stop falling?”

Chu Shen sighed. “With your joking temperament, you wouldn’t have taken me seriously unless I did something shocking. As for me stopping my falling, it was naturally due to <Stars Dance: Light Step>. Remember that with it I can make my Qi solid and create a stepping stone in mid-air.”

“I don’t ever remember you having that ability.”

“Really? I thought I told you. I learned it while training back at the second magic beast hunting zone.”

“Nope. You never told me about what you did while training.”

“Huh. I guess I’ll have to show you everything eventually.”

Lucas suddenly saw the city they had been flying towards. “Hey Chu Shen, I can see the city.”

Chu Shen immediately became excited. “Quick, tell me what kind of people are in the city, what kind of activity is there?”

“What do you mean tell you about the city? I can just see a black smudge over the horizon! It’ll take at least another ten minutes before I can see details.”

Chu Shen sighed. “All right then. Tell me when you can then.” After some impatient humming and tapping on Lucas’ head, Lucas could finally see the city. What he saw though confused him.

 “That’s odd.”

Chu Shen hit him on head. “What’s odd?”

Lucas rubbed the back of his head. “Ouch. Not so hard next time. Anyways, remember those buildings we saw when we first came here?”

Chu Shen nodded. “Yeah. They were white and had scorch marks all over them.”

“Well these skyscrapers are the same. White with scorch marks. There are some holes in the buildings as well, and some look like they’ve started melting.”

“Hmm. That is odd. We’ll need to look at them more closely when we get there.”

Soon, Lucas and Chu Shen arrived at the bustling, unknown city. Well, it wasn’t a bustling city. It was a ghost town. Not a single animal or person could be seen. Melted vehicles of some sort littered the streets. The shells of the vehicles were twisted and warped, looking like boxes out of a Picasso painting.

Lucas and Chu Shen picked their way through the area, studying the wreckage that was strewn about the ghost town. “The Qi concentration is very intense here. It might be one of those realms that is very dense in Qi, like the ones Master Ti Wu told me about.” Chu Shen remarked.

Lucas shrugged. “I have no idea about that, but my Geiger Counter is going nuts. This much radiation is like being ten miles from a thermonuclear bomb. No regular human could survive this and my positronic brain is only safe because of the radiation shielding I put inside my body.”

Chu Shen saw a large, dome-shaped building with a large sign in front of him. The sign was made of unrecognized characters. The characters were harsh, angular lines and he only recognized it as a sign because of the placement. He pointed towards the sign. “Hey Lucas, can you read that sign?”Lucas turned back towards Chu Shen. Glancing back at where Chu Shen was pointing at, he cocked his head sideways. “Maybe, let me run my translation program real quick… Yep. It’s weird though. The characters are actually Nugitraaiilian.” Chu Shen looked at him blankly. “Remember those lizard aliens you faced in the RoboGames back on my planet?”

“Oh yeah. They were kind of annoying, going on about having to learn from the person that beat them because of their ‘honor’. Still, it’s really weird that their language popped up here of all places.”

Lucas became excited as a possibility. “Wait, could this mean I’m back in my universe?”

Chu Shen shrugged. “No idea. I doubt it, but I don’t control where we go, so who knows? Anyways, what did the sign say?”

“The sign said ‘Planetary Defense Command Center.’ Let me activate the Tachyon comm relay so that we can try and contact Sparta.”

…………………………………………….

Hostiles have activated Tachyonic transmission. Transmission interception in progress… Interception complete. Transmission reads, ‘Are you there Father? It’s me, Lucas.’ Cannot translate message. Running decryption program. Decryption program failed. Probability of message containing encrypted message is 97%. Error. Cannot decrypt but message must be encrypted. Error. Error. Error. Error. Erro-.

Error avoidance program activated. Bypassing logic circuits. Encrypted message is confirmed as reality. Encrypted message has encryption surpassing decryption program. Action determined as hostile. Match probability raises to 59.922%. Until match probability raises to 60%, observation to classify threat level is permitted.

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Chapter 132

Confusion

It turns out that the giant robot didn’t have a backpack on. Instead, it had on a missile launcher, which it was currently using to launch missiles at them. All the while, white beams of energy from the other, smaller ones shot towards them.

Lucas had put Aslo and Chrissa inside his pocket dimension while he strapped on his jetpack. He flew through air while trying to dodge missiles that were constantly exploding around him. Chu Shen was able to keep pace with the jetpack by using <Comet Travels Through: Dust Trail>. Just like the technique said, he left a trail of dust from the rock he crushed to powder with his feet and threw into the air with every step.

He may have been in danger of getting weary, except for one thing. The smaller robots were targeting him with their energy beams. Using his <Cancellation Armor>, Chu Shen was able absorb the energy beams and keep himself at full capacity. At the moment, it looked like a stalemate.

………………………………………………………………

Deep, deep underground, less than five hundred feet from the mantle of the planet, sat a bunker. Inside this bunker was a series of large memory banks, comprising the brain of the A.I. that dwelled there. Currently, the A.I. was monitoring a very concerning situation.

Interdimensional energy detected. Calculating. Probability of the masters’ return is 13.333%. Probability of invaders is 62.651%. Probability of unknown occurrence is 24.016%. Dispatching Scout Mech 004…………

 

Interdimensional energy detected. Scout Mech 004 report received. No life forms detected. No mechanical constructs detected. Probability of cloaked enemies, 11.923%. Probability of an enemy testing interdimensional teleportation method is 86.056%. Probability of natural phenomenon is 2.021%. Preparing scouting party…………….

 

Interdimensional energy detected. Dispatching Scout Mech 004. Enemy contact. Four bipedal organics detected. Analyzing creatures. 62.12% match to invaders. According to Sh’lteek protocol, treat any invaders with 50% match or greater as threat. Assigning organism as hostile. Assigning Scout Mech 004 as test subject…….

 

Test subject has been neutralized. Match probability drops to 52.322%. Weapons of invaders match that of masters but also that of the T’keel. Can defend against minimum power energy beam. Invaders can also break Gret’ak material.

Further data required for analysis. Activating orbital observation satellite array. Dispatching Scout Mech 002, Scout Mech 003, Scout Mech 005, Scout Mech 006, Scout Mech 007, Light Support Mech 001.

 

Unknown teleportation method activated. Two hostiles disappeared. One hostile has flight capabilities. One hostile has movement capabilities on par with low class master. Forty mechanical hostiles are covering for the two fleeing hostiles. Match probability drops to 51.999%. Further data required for analysis. 

 

Further observation is needed. Determine hostiles objective in order to classify threat level. Recalling Scout Mech 002, Scout Mech 003, Scout Mech 005, Scout Mech 006, Scout Mech 007, Light Support Mech 001. Focusing orbital observation satellite array on hostiles.

………………………………………………..

 Chu Shen and Lucas had been fleeing from the robots for about ten minutes. The larger one had run out of missiles. Instead, it started launching plasma balls at Lucas from the barrel it had in its hand. The plasma balls would explode on impact with anything else. Chu Shen had discovered that tidbit when he used <Universal Shield> to protect Lucas when he was about to be hit.

“HEY LUCAS! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT THESE KILLER ROBOTS!” Chu Shen yelled at Lucas so he could hear him over the sounds of combat.

Lucas swooped over Chu Shen while doing a barrel roll to avoid several plasma balls. “I’M NOT SURE! MOST OF MY WEAPONS ARE GEARED TOWARDS PEOPLE, NOT ROBOTS. OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE USED AN EMP OR ION CANNON.”

Suddenly, all of the robots stopped firing. Chu Shen and Lucas glanced over their shoulders. The robots were now standing completely still. There was a flash of blue light. The robots were gone.

Lucas slowly landed beside Chu Shen. “What just happened?” Lucas sounded confused.

Chu Shen shrugged helplessly. “I’m not sure. Several giant robots attacked us for no reason and then left.”

“Soooo……What do we do now?”

“First we need to find a place to stay. We also need to be able to lose those robots if they appear again. Lucas, can you fly up high and get a good look around?”

Lucas smiled. “I can do better than that. Here, let me launch my satellite first. We can find a suitable place with that.”

The satellite appeared before Chu Shen and Lucas. Immediately, it started flying upwards. Lucas grinned. “Soon, I should get some images.” As he said that, he stored all of his sniper drones back inside his subspace pocket.

…………………………………………………..

Hostiles have launched an orbital reconnaissance vehicle. Action determined as possibly dangerous. Match probability raises to 54.821%. Must eliminate orbital reconnaissance vehicle. Activating orbital weapon platform.

…………………………………………………..

At approximately 420 miles (32 km) above the planet, there was a 1 mile (1.6 km) diameter sphere. A bay door slid open on the side of the sphere that faced the planet, and a long barrel emerged from the open hatch. The sphere rotated slightly before firing its weapon. A beam of white hot plasma shot out of the barrel down towards the planet’s surface.

The barrel receded back into the sphere. Once it was back inside the sphere, the bay door slid back into place. The sphere was once again silent, floating through the void of space.

………………………………………………….

Lucas had deployed his holo-drone so Chu Shen could see what the satellite was seeing. “Look at this, Chu Shen. It’s a city! Not a sprawling town but a city, with skyscrapers and everything! Wow, this planet is pretty amazing. It’s similar to my own realm, actually. Anyway, we need to decide where to go.”

Chu Shen nodded. “A city would be the best place. We might be able to find someone that can explain the random robot attacks to us. Plus, the city will provide lots of places to avoid the robots if they attack us again.”

Lucas nodded in agreement. “Alright then. We’re here, and the nearest town is here. We would need to go this direction in order to rea- Hey!” Suddenly, the satellite view of the ground disappeared.

“Uh oh. I lost contact with the satellite. I have no idea what went wrong though.” Lucas was befuddled at this turn of events.

Chu Shen hit him in the arm. When Lucas looked at him, he pointed behind him. “Lucas, I think I found out what it was that destroyed your satellite.”

Lucas turned to look where Chu Shen was pointing. “I don’t see why you assume it was destroyed. What could possibly give you that ideaaaaa………… Never mind. I see it.”

A white beam of plasma could be seen streaking through the atmosphere a mile away from them. Chu Shen watched as the plasma hit the ground and chewed right through it, as if nothing was there.

Chu Shen watched it for a while before sighing. “Alright then, Lucas. We need to get a move on.”

Lucas grinned. He grabbed onto the unsuspecting Chu Shen’s arm before suddenly taking off.

“NOOOOTTTTT AAAAGGGGAAAAIIIIIINNNN LLLUUUUCCCCAAASSSS!!!!” Chu Shen screamed as he was dragged behind Lucas.

“NO WORRIES CHU SHEN! I JUST THOUGHT WE NEEDED TO GET THERE QUICKLY! HAHAHAHA!”

……………………………………………

The hostiles did not have a major reaction to the destruction of their orbital reconnaissance vehicle. The hostiles are currently moving towards Gu’lt. Continuing observation of the hostiles.

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Arc 5 [Desolate World]

 

Chapter 131

Run!

Chu Shen and Lucas appeared in the middle of that blue grass field once again. Chrissa and Aslo also appeared after Lucas let them out of his pocket dimension. They immediately started looking around.

Aslo looked shocked as he glanced around. “How far did you teleport us? I had no idea grass could be blue. Also, that space you kept us in. There were so many metal things in there. What were they?”

Lucas felt a headache coming. “Uh, well.. you see….. Chu Shen!?”

Chu Shen shook his head. “Nope. This one’s all yours, buddy. I got to explain it to you last time.”

Lucas sighed. “Okay. Well, first let me start off with this fact. We are on another world. We have these bracelets, the Chains of Transportation, that let us travel to other worlds. We were both kind of sucked into this on accident and are hitching rides until we reach our original world.”

Chrissa’s eyes were as big as saucers while Aslo just sat there. Finally, he shook his head. “Okay then. So, what are we doing here?”

Lucas shrugged. “We don’t have a goal. We are forced to disappear to another world with no idea when it will happen. As far as we can tell, there is no pattern. We just randomly disappear.”

Aslo seemed to be struggling to come to grips with this new information. “Then what abo-”

A blue flash of light blinded them. Once their eyes adjusted, all of them looked at the area where the light had come from. Standing there was a 33 ft. (10 m) tall, metal scale covered, human-like creature.

As everyone looked at it in confusion, it pointed its arm at them. Suddenly feeling a sense of danger, Chu Shen summoned the <Universe Shield> and placed it between them and the creature. Not even a second later a beam of white energy shot towards them from the creature’s palm.

“WHY DO WE ALWAYS GET ATTACKED LIKE THIS!!!!” Lucas yelled to Chu Shen. The sound of crackling was so loud that one had to yell in order to be heard over it.

“IS THIS A COMMON OCCURRENCE THEN?!” Aslo yelled back.

“SHUT UP AND FOCUS! I CAN’T HOLD ON LONG!” Chu Shen yelled at both of them. Immediately Lucas and Aslo’s eyes turned towards Chu Shen’s energy shield. The circular shield was cracked and starting to fade away. It was absorbing the energy from the white beam to repair itself, but not fast enough to offset the damage the beam was doing to it.

Lucas and Aslo immediately became serious, ceasing their chatter. Lucas pulled out his Beast Cannon. “I NEVER GOT A CHANCE TO TEST THIS THING. BETTER NOW THAN NEVER!”

The Beast Cannon. It was a long box 4 feet in length with a barrel sticking out of one end. In the middle was a U shaped gap that would fit over Lucas’ shoulder. He aimed the barrel at the creature. Smiling, he fired the Beast Cannon.

A stream of orange and red lava flew towards the creature at three quarters the speed of sound. The outside was solid rock, cooled by the wind. The inside was molten rock, superheated from Qi. These two features combined formed a very formidable weapon.

The creature glanced at the lava projectile. Without any outwards motion, a white barrier appeared in front of it. The projectile smashed into the barrier, causing it to flash brightly and then weaken. The molten projectile bounced off the shield and flew backwards over their heads. Lava smeared onto the barrier and dribbled down it, cooling rapidly.

Lucas gritted his teeth. “Oh yeah!? That was only at five percent. Take this! Full power blast!”

The lava projectile shot out once more. It was now white hot and made a sonic boom as it flew towards the creature. This time, the white barrier wasn’t able to stop the projectile. It smashed through and hit the creature.

The creature flew backwards through the air and hit the side of a building, cracking it. The creature lay slumped against the side of the building, completely still. Lucas was just about to cheer when the creature shifted. It grabbed the black hunk of rock from where it was jammed into its abdomen.

With a quick jerk, the rock became dislodged. The creature threw the rock behind it. Its stomach now had cracks in its metal scales. The lava left scorch marks on some of its scales as it trailed down its body. Everyone’s faces immediately became serious.

A soft girl’s voice suddenly sounded behind Chu Shen, causing him to turn around. It was Chrissa! “Wind focus and shape. Take form before me. Create what I want through this fragile will of mine. Go forth, Wind Scythe Hurricane!”

The Rank 7 spell formed around the creature, creating a hurricane around it. Hundreds of blades of wind struck the creature all over its body in a matter of seconds. Sparks flew from the mana-infused wind, striking the metal scales of the creature. The white barrier appeared around the creature again, but it was quickly shattered by the onslaught of wind scythes.

Aslo decided he wasn’t just going to watch though. “I’ll help you sis! Flames of the world, converge in front of me. Burn those who I want to destroy, and protect those I wish to protect. Flames take form, Fiery Sun!” A huge ball of flame appeared around the creature, consuming it. The hurricane around it caused the ball of flame to become even bigger. The magic spells synergized together very well, creating a Rank 8 spell from the two Rank 7 spells.

Chu Shen grimaced while watching them. There was no way he could join in. His Qi would just absorb their spells. Honestly, he was better for melee attacks and defensive maneuvers. He would get in the way of everyone else if he tried attacking now.

Lucas also didn’t stand idly by. “You can take one full power blow, but how about ten?!” He hoisted his Beast Cannon up and aimed at the center of the fireball. Immediately, several lava projectiles slammed into the creature. It hadn’t been doing nothing and had started to try and close the distance between them.

With the lava projectiles slamming into it, the creature was forced back into the building, causing it to crack even more. Surprisingly, the building was still standing. The twins’ spells, which had been active for a minute already, were starting to falter. They had enough mana to sustain the spells, but the concentration required was another matter.

Multiple sniper drones appeared around Lucas, though several of them appeared far bigger than the others. Chu Shen quickly covered his ears and none too soon. The air shook from over forty sonic booms occurring at once. Aslo and Chrissa winced at the unexpected sound. Their spells became disrupted as they were distracted.

Lucas glanced over apologetically before turning back towards the creature. Right now they could finally see it clearly since it wasn’t covered in fire or dust now. Lucas and Chu Shen gasped when they saw it while the twins seemed confused.

The creature was severed in half, the upper body pinned against the wall by several rock shards. The lower half lay on the ground motionless. That wasn’t what was making them so shocked, however. It was the wires that were spilling out of the creature’s abdomen. Or rather, the robot’s abdomen.

Lucas grimaced slightly. “Sorry to destroy such a fine piece of equipment like this, but…” Another volley of projectiles launched from the sniper drones, causing the twins to flinch once again. The robot’s head shattered into fragments of metal and unidentified materials.

Lucas turned to Chu Shen. “So, what did you think of that?”

Several flashes of blue light suddenly went off. Turning around, Lucas saw five more robots that were identical to the first appear out of nowhere. Another robot standing at 49 ft. (15 m) tall appeared as well. It was identical to the others except for its right arm, which was a barrel instead of a hand. It also had what appeared to be a backpack on.

Aslo seemed shaken. “So what do we do now!?”

Chu Shen grabbed his and Chrissa’s hands. “Well, we do what one always does in the face of imminent death.”

“RUN!!!!”

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Chapter 130

New Realms, Old Friends

 

Chu Shen and Lucas waited for a while inside the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. After a little while, they suddenly disappeared before reappearing in a large open space.

Lucas sat down and sighed. “Ugh. Having to be on guard all the time just in case we have to move….SO FRUSTRATING!”

Chu Shen sighed as well. “I know, but at least we get to meet some new people every time. Like the twins. I liked Aslo a lot.”

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, Aslo wasn’t too bad. His sister wasn’t that bad to look at either.” He leaned back. “I guess we have met some good people. Except that leg destroying dude. He did make up for it I suppose, but it still sucked.”

Chu Shen sighed. “Come on, just let it go, alright?”

Lucas shook his head. “Nope.”

“Fine. We should at least take a look around, right?” Chu Shen got up and did exactly that. He saw blue grass growing wildly all around him. Buildings made of a white material could be seen. Scorch marks covered the buildings though, and most of them had sections falling in.

Lucas shook his head. “I really don’t like this. I know those kids should be alright, they have far more power than those other sects do. I just can’t stop worrying about them though. How about this, I still have the Chains of Transportation  with a charm connected to the first hunting area we were at. Why don’t I go there and check up on them before coming back?”

Chu Shen smiled. “Great idea. I also have a charm there as well. Why don’t we both go back?”

Lucas nodded. “Sure.”

With a thought, a metal chain appeared around their arms. Reaching down, they touched the ground with the chain. As they did, they both channeled energy into the chain. A small charm appeared around it, with the Chinese symbol for 3 (三) on it.  The first charm led to the Black Night Sect. The second led to the first magic beast hunting zone. The third now led to this open field.

Chu Shen looked at Lucas. “So, are you ready to go back?”

Lucas smiled. “Of course.”

They channeled energy into the “2 ( 二)” charm and disappeared.

What they didn’t know about was the large metal behemoth that appeared five minutes later. It looked like a huge man covered in metal scales. A harsh hissing sound impossible to replicate with the human voice came from the metal creature. It paused for a second before hissing something else.

In a flash of blue light, the creature disappeared from the area.

………………………………………………………………

Chu Shen and Lucas reappeared in the first magic beast hunting zone. Lucas suddenly smacked his head. “You know, I forgot to get the coordinates to teleport us there.”

Chu Shen sighed. “Well, it would also be suspicious if we just appeared out of nowhere.”

Lucas smiled. “Luckily, I still have my spaceship. It has stealth systems on it as well, the true kind. It can jump into hyperspace and it’s cut off completely from this world.”

Chu Shen gestured forward. “Be my guest.”

Immediately, a large teardrop shaped craft appeared in front of Lucas and Chu Shen. It had no outer hatches or viewports and was 928 ft (300 meters) long, with the wide end measuring 246 ft (75 meters). It appeared to be completely solid. Chu Shen looked at it in confusion. “Just how are we supposed to get into this thing?”

Lucas grinned at him. “You walk through the wall of the ship of course. This thing is made of nanites coated in Durasteel X, the strongest material we had in my universe. The weapons it has are limited, only a couple stealth missiles which I made on the side. The power is broadcast from the anti-matter generator I have. Most of the space on it is for the hyperspace system and gravity drive. The rest is used for cabins, missile storage, the weapon vault, food, and a simulation room.”

Chu Shen waved his hand. “I don’t need a step by step breakdown right now, all I need is to check up on those kids.”

Lucas sighed. “Fine. Have it your way.” Lucas approached the ship and touched his hand to the outer hull. The ship’s hull seemed to sink around his hand, enveloping it in liquid metal. Lucas continued walking forward until his entire body seemed to become one with the ship before disappearing inside.

Chu Shen shrugged and then walked inside himself. It was like being enveloped in metal putty. It gave at his touch. Eventually he found himself standing on a metal walkway inside the ship. Lucas faced him with a smile. “Let’s go then.”

The black ship’s surface rippled before it suddenly seemed to disappear. This was its cloaking mechanism. Its gravity drives activated as it flew at subsonic speeds towards White Lotus City. They didn’t want to attract any trouble with sonic booms, so they avoided going faster than the speed of sound. Two hours later, they had arrived. Chu Shen and Lucas landed outside the city before walking inside after storing the ship inside Lucas’ pocket dimension.

Once inside, they saw people putting up signs. The signs said, ‘Void Sect Registration Now Open. Only Accepting Those with Rank 3 Mage Talent or Lower.’

Chu Shen was surprised by that. They had been gone for less than three hours and they already had everything sorted out? Lucas and Chu Shen exchanged confused glances. Chu Shen approached one of the men putting up the sign. “Uh, excuse me sir. Where is the Void Sect at?”

The man saw Chu Shen and smiled. “It’s not a surprise that you don’t know about them. They only appeared two days ago. They wiped out the Asura Sect and ran the Ice Dragon and Golden Palm Sects off as well. They’re down the road at the center of town. You can’t miss it.”

Chu Shen thanked the man and then they quickly ran towards the Void Sect. While they did, Lucas and Chu Shen started to debate as to why two days had already gone by when it had only been three hours for them. Master Ti Wu put an end to it though.

‘Enough bickering, you brat. Each realm has a different passage of time compared to the others. You can’t expect them all to have the same passage of time. One minute in one could be a million years in another. It’s all relative to the one you want to compare it to.’

Eventually, they reached the new Void Sect. Going up to the sect, they encountered some of the students. Recognizing their saviors, they were brought to Griffith immediately. There, Chu Shen and Lucas were brought up to speed on all the things that had happened in the two days they were gone. Chu Shen and Lucas were surprised at how smoothly everything went.

After the takeover, all of the townsfolk showed a surprising amount of acceptance. They had suffered under the brutality of the Asura Sect for a while now, and they were all too happy to see them disappear. The fights that had occurred didn’t damage most of the infrastructure of the sects as well so taking over their facilities went nicely.

Chu Shen and Lucas were both relieved by the fact that none of the kids were hurt badly. Except Thomas. They both felt some guilt towards that, since they were sure they could have saved him if they had been there. Griffith gave them some alone time after that.

After about ten minutes, Lucas turned back to Chu Shen. “I don’t think they need us anymore. They’re already established pretty well here. We don’t need anything else from this realm and it would be kind of weird staying in the sect we established.”

Chu Shen nodded as well. “I would say it’s time to go back to that new realm we saw.”

Just as they were deciding to leave, the door flung open. There in the doorway stood a kid who was not a kid. Fifteen year old Aslo had a face that could be called an adult’s. His eyes were fierce, his cheeks scarred. The only thing that took away from his adult features was the baby fat still visible on his face.

He stared at Chu Shen and Lucas. Suddenly, he fell to his knees and bowed to them. “Thank you, thank you. Thanks to you, I have avenged my mother’s death.”

Chu Shen reached down and grabbed his shoulder, pulling Aslo up from the ground. “Please Aslo, don’t do this. We did it because you are a friend. You don’t have to act like this.”

Aslo shook his head. “No, I have to. You are the one that granted me the chance to put my mom’s spirit at peace.”

Lucas slapped him on the back. “Anything for a friend. Anyways Aslo, I’m glad you stopped by. Nice to see you before we leave.”

Aslo immediately focused on Lucas. “Please take us with you!”

Lucas looked confused. “Us?” As he spoke Chrissa stepped through the open doorway.

Aslo nodded. “Yeah. We talked it over and decided that in order to repay you we would like to go with you to wherever it is you decide to go.”

Lucas turned to Chu Shen. “Please, oh pretty please! We need more than just stinking boys. A girl or two would be nice.”

Chu Shen looked at Aslo seriously. “Where we plan on going is far beyond your imagination. It will be extremely far away from here and you will only be able to visit here every once in awhile.”

Aslo and Chrissa both nodded, not a hint of hesitation showing. Chu Shen sighed. “Fine. It was a choice made of your own free will so I have no objection.”

Lucas immediately took out two sets of Chains of Transportation before giving them to Aslo and Chrissa. He gave them a brief explanation before having them wear it. Afterwards they departed the city. In order to not surprise Aslo and Chrissa Lucas avoided using the spaceship and teleported them all to the first magic beast hunting zone.

Now that he had the coordinates, teleporting them between such distances was negligible. Teleportation was a rare power and considered a Rank 4 Space Magic. However, it wasn’t too uncommon so it wasn’t as surprising as a giant spaceship flying them there.

He guided them on how to make the charms before sending them into his pocket dimension. Inside there, Aslo and Chrissa would go with him when they teleported back to their next realm.

Lucas, Chu Shen, Aslo, and Chrissa disappeared from their world in less than a second.

 

[End Arc 4: Magician’s World]

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Chapter 129

Conflict Closing

It was a very sad day for the Asura Sect. Indeed, the Void Sect had surrounded them. How unfortunate that they were now so arrogant since they had become one of the power houses of White Lotus City. They refused to believe that it was the Void Sect. They laughed and mocked the kids for trying to act tough.

All of them gathered together to slaughter the insignificant brats that dared to hold them hostage. Their bloodthirsty nature showed as they used their most ruthless attacks on the kids, not showing even a hint of mercy towards their young age. They used their own students as cannon fodder in their fights.

How sad, how truly unfortunate for them. For showing such ruthless nature took the students of the Void Sect back to the days of slaughter. To the day when their families, teachers, and friends were killed by these fiends. Not even ten minutes after they attacked, they were destroyed.

The Asura Sect….. was no more.

As for the Ice Dragon Sect, they were more hesitant and believing than the Asura Sect. Upon hearing their demands, as well as their claims that they were Rank 6 and Rank 7 mages, they were loath to believe it. But what if it was true? As a test, their Rank 6 mage asked for a duel. Immediately, over ten Rank 6 spells flew at him from different places. After seeing that, the Ice Dragon Sect gave up.

While all this was going on, Sarah was still facing down the Golden Palm Sect.

………………………………………………………………………………

Talgin was stunned by this sudden occurrence. The powerhouse of his sect was trapped inside the <Shadow Coffin> technique. A Rank 6 magic that would cause anyone to panic. What was worse was the fact that it appeared to be a little girl that had cast it. This completely overturned his sense of power. Yes, a little girl could theoretically become a Rank 6 mage. However, who would ever suspect that someone so young could be so powerful?

Usually, students were advised to stay at Rank 2 or Rank 3 in order to gain experience. It was similar to what Chu Shen was doing, actually. So when this little girl was suddenly revealed to actually be a Rank 6 mage….. it threw Talgin for a loop.

“W-w-what!?” He stuttered, pointing at Sarah.

She sighed. “Obviously if you don’t order a surrender, I will have to kill this man. Next I will have to kill you. After that, if no one surrenders,  we will have to start killing people at random.”

Talgin immediately paled. There was more than ten other kids the same age as this little girl outside the Golden Palm Sect. If what they said was true, then they were just as powerful as her, with some being possibly even more powerful. He couldn’t risk his students’ lives.

He immediately shook his head. “Please, let Baldwin go. We surrender. Us adults will stay here. Just please let the students go, they have nothing to do with this.”

Sarah’s face softened at that, but she still shook her head. “Unfortunately, we can’t. However, I can swear on my life that these kids will not be harmed or imprisoned. They will be set free in a little while.”

Talgin sighed in relief. “I thank you for that.”

Afterwards Sarah had everyone of the Golden Palm Sect go towards the center of the town. There, the Ice Dragon Sect was waiting for them. After two minutes, the kids that were sent to the Asura Sect came back. Their clothes were covered in splotches of blood. Their faces were worn, shocked, and filled with anger and sadness.

Not a single person from the Asura Sect followed behind them. Confused, Griffith approached them to ask what had happened. They spoke about things that would haunt them forever. They spoke about the Asura Sect.

The Asura Sect.

A sect filled with assassins. They had mercilessly trained their kids in the ways of battle since they were four years old. It was unfortunate. The Asura Sect sent out everyone they had from their sect. From their show of force, the Asura Sect knew that their enemies did indeed have some powerhouses.

They sent out the kids as cannon fodder, using their young lives without hesitation to identify the supposedly few strong mages that were threatening them. These kids were only Rank 3 or Rank 4 assassins. That didn’t stop them from attacking with all their might. The defending Void Sect members tried to stop them through less destructive means.

Unfortunately, when you have enough wolves, even a lion can fall. The Asura Sect focused on a single kid with over forty of their cannon fodder. His name was Thomas. He was able to block ten, twenty, even twenty three at one time, but there were too many. Others tried coming to his rescue, but just as his mana shield broke, a Rank 5 assassin appeared out of the shadows and sliced his head directly in half.

It was the first loss the kids had suffered since that horrible night.

It brought forth a rage in them that was unbelievable. Suddenly, spells started spewing forth, lighting up the night. Warrior techniques lashed out when they didn’t have enough time to chant.

It was a slaughter. Not a single person lived through it.

Most of these kids became terrified of themselves. The reason they came was to exact revenge. It was to destroy those that wanted to kill them. They expected fighting. However, looking at the aftermath, seeing the dead bodies that littered the ground; it just didn’t seem like it was worth it. Sadness over the slaughter that had happened, anger at the fact they were forced to kill kids, shock at doing such horrible things, all was visible on their faces.

As the other kids listened to their experience, they rushed over to the Asura Sect to see for themselves. The ground was ripped to shreds. Fire still burned. Icicles could be seen sticking out of still warm flesh. Griffith was saddened immensely at the sight.

If he had known that such a thing would happen, he would have never tried to do this. The teachers would have come by themselves and wiped out the Asura Sect. It would have at least spared these kids the horror of war for a little longer.

After that, they returned to the square. Some of the teachers had remained behind to watch over their prisoners. Upon returning, Griffith gathered up the students. When he asked them what they wanted to do, a unanimous decision was made.

Griffith stood in front of the group of captives. Clearing his throat, he started to speak with them. “Ahem. Tonight, the former Rising Tide Sect took revenge on the three sects that tried to destroy us. Luckily, both of your sects had the sense to surrender. Unfortunately, the Asura Sect did not. They fought to the end, and we do not believe there is a single surviving member inside White Lotus City.”

“It is something that we all regret doing. If we could, we would prefer to not have to do such a thing again. That is why we have decided to let you all go. None of you will be killed or imprisoned. You are all free. However, we would like to never hear of the Ice Dragon or Golden Palm sects ever again. If we do, then there will be consequences.”

Among the people imprisoned there in the circle, there were some that had killed someone close to the Void Sect disciples. However, after seeing such bloodshed with the Asura Sect, the kids didn’t have the stomach to simply slaughter them.

Everyone started to leave, with the teachers of the now disbanded sects rounding up their students. Some of the students left for their homes inside White Lotus City. To them, it was more important to stay with their families than to follow their sect to places unknown.

The powerhouses of the disbanded sects and the sect leaders left separately. The teachers of the Void Sect assassinated them when they did. It was better to not leave anyone that could be a threat to the Void Sect. Of course, they did not tell their students about this.

Eventually, White Lotus City was left in peace.

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Chapter 128

Revenge

Griffith heard Chu Shen yelling. Immediately he started running towards the savior’s voice. Upon arriving he saw their horses but neither of the saviors were there. The words the savior had been shouting finally registered with Griffith. He turned towards their horses and kowtowed. “I will not disappoint you saviors! We will get our revenge!”

Griffith collected the horses the saviors left behind and then turned back towards his group. Everyone was strapping on gear, eating a quick snack, or chatting with their comrades. They were getting ready for war.

Griffith let go of the two horses and faced his soldiers. “Everyone, can I have your attention!” Immediately faces swiveled towards Griffith.

“The two saviors have left us!” Immediately there was some concern on everyone’s faces. Why would their saviors leave them now? “They have told us before that they may leave at any time. They left now with barely a warning. Where they have gone, I do not know.

“I can say this though! I am glad they have left now.” That shocked everyone. “This is a private affair! We have come to get revenge for our loved ones that were slain! The saviors gave us this chance! But I do not wish for them to see such violence! Remember what they asked us though, take pity on them! Kill only those that you saw killing! Everyone else, is to be spared! Now, mount up! We leave in five minutes!”

Everyone immediately became busy, throwing their food on the ground and helping their comrades finish putting on their armor. Five minutes later, everyone was ready.

……………………………………………………………………

Talgin leaned back in his chair and sighed. So many things were going wrong. He, the leader of the Golden Palm Sect, was about to lose his Sect. He had worked together with the Asura and Ice Dragon Sect to destroy the Rising Tide Sect.  He had never liked conflict but those kids….. They would have ruined everything if they had a chance to grow.

Back then, he had been forced to take action. It seemed like it was all in vain though. The Asura Sect had been growing more powerful with each day. Their training methods were cruel and inhumane. They found that if the body was conditioned for extreme pain, then the chances of becoming a high ranking warrior was practically guaranteed.

They had learned this method three years ago and the results were finally starting to show. Very quickly, high ranking assassins started to appear in the Asura’s ranks. The Ice Dragon Sect had realized this and immediately decided to go with the flow. They became a partner with the Asura Sect. The Ice Dragon Sect was filled mages and filled the gap of the Asura Sect by being able to provide long range support.

The Golden Palm Sect was a combination of warrior and mage adventurers. They were one of the strongest powers in White Lotus City, second only to the Rising Tide Sect. With the Rising Tide Sect gone they were the strongest power.

Unfortunately, the Asura and White Dragon Sect, when combined, were just as powerful. With the rise of the Asura Sect’s strength, they eventually became outmatched. The Asura Sect had been taking little chunks off the Golden Palm Sect and it was slowly killing them. Currently they only had half the resources they had before.  Talgin sighed. ‘Will I really have to join them? I don’t want to, the Asura Sect is only filled with murderers. Unfortunately, if I don’t then we’ll be the next Rising Tide Sect.’

 

BOOOOMMMMMM

Talgin stiffened. Was it the Asura Sect?! Did they really wish to fight with them now!? If they did, they would have to suffer major casualties. Would they really do that?! As if in answer, more explosions came from outside.

BOOOOMMM BOOOOMMMM BOOOMMMM

 

Talgin immediately cleared his head. Either way, whether it was the Asura Sect or not, they were under attack. He rushed towards a cabinet on his right. In less than ten seconds he was clothed in armor. A spear was cradled in his right arm and a sword was strapped to his back. Several knife handles could be seen sticking out of places in his armor. This was the speed of a Rank 5 warrior.

Talgin wasn’t a frontline warrior. They had three Rank 6 mages but two had faked their deaths. The leaders of the other sects knew about them though the public was kept in the dark. A powerful surge of mana notified Talgin that their Rank 6 mage was going into battle.

Quickly, Talgin started running towards the explosions, the sound of them had never stopped. He flung open a door and appeared on a balcony on the second story. He stopped, frozen by the scene below him.

“What is this?!”

…………………………………………………………………….

Team 4 stood outside the Golden Palm Sect, hands on their weapons. They, along with Teams 9 and 11 would be in charge of destroying the Golden Palm Sect. The actual plan was to force the Golden Palm sect into surrendering. Then the people who surrendered would be brought into the main square. Similar plans for the Asura and Ice Dragon Sect were being carried out.

After everyone was in the square, members of the sects that had killed someone from the Rising Tide Sect would be executed. Everyone else would be set free, regardless of their strength. After all, even if a Rank 8 adventurer attacked them, they already had 2 Rank 8 mages. They would simply be courting death to attack the Void Sect again.

George and Sam started first. George cast the Rank 4 spell <Earth Eruption> while Sam cast the Rank 6 spell <Lightning Storm>. The earth seemed to explode in a giant circle around the entire Golden Palm Sect, forming a forty foot deep and twenty foot wide trench. Large explosions went off as Lightning continuously struck the ground just beyond the trench George had made.

The guards trembled at the power being displayed in front of them. Numerous students and guards ran from their residents in the sect only to stare slack jawed at the lightning surging down from the sky. It looked like an angry thunder god was striking them down.

A man in golden robes strolled out from the sect. The teams were spaced out evenly around the entire sect. The man frowned. “What is the meaning of this?! Asura Sect, Ice Dragon Sect! Are you trying to confuse us by sending kids while launching spells from a distance!”

One of the kids stepped forwards. It was one from Team 9 with the wind attribute. Using the Rank 1 spell of <Voice Projection>, everyone in the Golden Palm Sect could clearly hear his voice.

“We are students of the former Raging Tide Sect. There are nine Rank 7 Mages here and six Rank 6 Mages as well. We would like for you to peacefully surrender. If you do not and try to flee or fight the penalty will be…… DEATH!”

Upon the word death being uttered, a chilly aura seemed to encompass the entire sect. The teams of kids did not flinch at the word and instead stared coldly at the enemies. The only thing that could soften their hardened hearts was the scared young faces of the students from the Golden Palm Sect. If not for that, it was quite possible they would have disregarded the savior’s plea for the innocent.

The golden robed man seemed shocked before suddenly laughing uproariously. “You, you really think that I would believe that you brats could suddenly become so powerful!? This is the first time in my hundred years of life that I have been threatened by a group of brats.”

None of the kids spoke. Instead they stood there, staring at the man. He smirked before uttering two words. “Golden Wall.” Immediately a large barrier appeared around the entire sect. The barrier was gold and was incomparably thick. A Rank 6 magic that was cast instantly. It seemed as though this golden robed man was truly skilled.

The golden robed man, now that he was hidden from view, no longer looked so confident. He turned and looked upwards at Talgin. “Master, what do we do! I don’t believe those brats are as strong as they say but whoever is backing them up is truly powerful. Those lightning strikes are on par with my <Gold Shower>. At the very least they are a Rank 6 mage.”

Talgin, who had been stunned by the lightning surrounding them, came to his senses. “I don’t know. This could very well be a ploy by the Asura Sect. Baldwin, you need to be careful. Take Galgor and Waldo with you to clear a route underground. With their earth magic it should be easy to make a tunnel for the kids to escape. Us teachers will stay here and defend them.”

Baldwin nodded. “Yes Talgin, I wi-”

He was suddenly cut off as a black coffin materialized around him, cutting Baldwin off from the rest of the world. A young girl appeared out of the shadows with a crossbow mounted on her arm. She pointed her crossbow at Talgin.

 “Order the surrender or you and this man die.”

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Chapter 126

Preparation

 

Before everyone left for White Lotus city, Chu Shen got a message from Master Ti Wu. ‘Hey brat.’

‘Yes Master Ti Wu?

 

‘Remember how I said that I could probably change one of their souls to gain soul sense?’

 

‘Yes.’

 

‘Well I think I can do it now. I can change it now and give them a technique that can allow them to change other people.’

 

Chu Shen immediately became elated. ‘Great, so how do we do it?’

 

‘We? There is no we. I’ll be doing all the work. All you have to do is find the right guy for me to change.’

Chu Shen paused at that. Who did he want to help? No, it wasn’t a question of who did he want to help but he did he think could be trusted? What he envisioned for this was that the person who had their soul changed would be able to help open other people’s meridians just like he was doing now.

Such a power was dangerous in the wrong hands since one could create an army very easily in this world. Kind of like what Chu Shen was doing now. It was just too dangerous to give to everyone. It would be better to give it to only one person and only allow them to pass it down to only one person as well.

Chu Shen hadn’t actually thought of all this though. It was Master Ti Wu who had explained all this to him before. With what Master Ti Wu had said, Chu Shen realized he couldn’t be casual in selecting someone to pass it down to. Eventually Chu Shen realized it had to be a teacher. The kids were just too immature at this point to trust with something this big.

Chu Shen thought pretty hard on this and consulted with Lucas and Master Ti Wu before eventually settling on the teacher Lidia. She was a very kind and caring teacher. She was the one that looked after the little girl that didn’t want to train. That little girl had practically became Lidia’s daughter.

Lidia was not the leader of the group, Griffith was. Griffith was someone that was very respected. He was a good speaker, listener, confident, and respected everyone. Lidia was the one that was his adviser. It was Griffith that proposed the idea to train the kids at the hunting zones. Everyone asked his opinion after that and eventually he became the focus of the group. When it came time to chose a leader (Chu Shen and Lucas were exempt from this), it was Griffith that won their vote.

Griffith would probably make a good choice for the soul modification. Unfortunately, he was too public. Lidia was more behind the scenes. With that, there would be less chance of her getting kidnapped or assassinated. Finally, Chu Shen decided on Lidia.

Chu Shen approached Lidia about giving her the ability to increase a mages rank. Immediately she became excited. Such an ability was simply too mystical. Who wouldn’t want it? Lidia agreed to it.

“So what do I need to do to gain this ability?” Lidia asked questioningly. She looked to be in her mid-40’s if she was a mortal. She probably still had another two hundred years left since she was a Rank 8 mage.

Chu Shen started to answer before hesitating. ‘Uh, Master Ti Wu. What does she have to do?’

 

Master Ti Wu sighed. ‘She has to endure some pain. Besides that, nothing else.’

 

 Chu Shen turned back to Lidia who was still waiting for an answer. “Well Lidia, I’m afraid it’s going to be painful. Other than that, there shouldn’t be an issue.”

Lidia sighed in relief. “Good. If there was a chance of dying I’m afraid I would have had to refuse. I don’t want Clementine to have to go through the pain of losing a family member again.”

Chu Shen nodded. “Don’t worry. Everyone is so strong, I’m sure nothing can stop them. After you receive the ability to change one’s talent, we’ll be moving to destroy those sects still in White Lotus City.”

Lidia smiled. “Good. Well, we are only killing the sect members right?”

Chu Shen nodded. “These kids have experienced the pain of losing someone. I am sure that none of them actually want someone else to experience that. They’ve been having group exercises to train them for war and had a good talking to by Su Gagi. It’s been drilled into them pretty hard that we are trying to destroy the sects and not the people. Anyways, we should get started with the whole ability thing.”

“Yes let’s.” Lidia immediately became excited.

“Alright go ahead and sit down.” Chu Shen motioned at the chair right in front of him. Right now they were in Lidia’s cabin sitting at her table with Lidia sitting across from him. Lidia came to the other side of table and sat in the chair he had pointed to.

‘Master Ti Wu, it’s time.’

 

‘I know that brat.’ Master Ti Wu sounded a bit grumpy. His soul form came out. A bluish green energy formed on his hands. It was his spiritual Qi. The Qi floated out of Master Ti Wu’s hand to form a circle with complex writings and symbols inside it. Master Ti Wu pointed at Lidia and immediately the bluish green energy flew towards her.

It went straight into Lidia’s forehead, completely passing through her skin like a ghost. For a second nothing happened. Then bluish green lines appeared all over Lidia’s face. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” When the lines appeared, Lidia’s face immediately twisted up in agony.

Master Ti Wu’s face was wrinkled in concentration. ‘Brat! Tell her to stop resisting and accept the change! If she cannot, she might die!’

 

Immediately Chu Shen followed his advice. He grabbed Lidia’s shoulder and squeezed it hard enough that red marks appeared. “LIDIA! STOP RESISTING! IF YOU CAN’T THEN YOU MIGHT DIE!”

“UUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!” Lidia howled with agony. Then suddenly, she went limp. Concerned, Chu Shen looked at Master Ti Wu. He looked exhausted.

Master Ti Wu still had enough energy to talk though. “Don’t worry brat, she can’t hear us now. Currently her soul is going through a metamorphosis caused by my soul imprint. She’ll be fine.

“I also gave her the art to copy my soul imprint down a little bit at a time so there won’t be as much pain for the next person, more like an itch than being skinned alive. With this she can pass it down to one more person over a period a year. If that person has a bad personality she can destroy the partial imprint with a thought. There can only be two full imprints at any given time and only the full imprint can allow a soul to gain soul sense.”

Chu Shen nodded. “As expected of Master Ti Wu. You are quite thorough.”

Master Ti Wu puffed up a bit. “Of course. How could an elder of the Void Sect not be thorough? Anyways, you should probably go lay her down on the bed.”

“Wait Master Ti Wu. Was it possible for her to die?” Chu Shen was worried since he had told Lidia that there wasn’t a chance she was going to die and yet Master Ti Wu said she could.

“Hmph. Of course not. Well, there was a possibility but only if I tried to force it. I would have stopped before she was actually in danger of dying. However, I remembered her saying that she couldn’t die because of Clementine. Me having you say that she could die  allowed her to quickly adapt to my soul imprint. If not, we could have been here for another hour.”

Chu Shen was relieved to hear that. He obeyed Master Ti Wu and put Lidia on her bed. Then he left to find the teachers and Lucas. They would be able to leave in order to take revenge tomorrow morning.

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Chapter 127

Too Early

Chu Shen found Lucas after he left Lidia in her room. They had some small talk and they even went inside Lucas’ pocket dimension to look around. Chu Shen had been so busy because of Master Ti Wu’s grueling training that he hadn’t had the time to talk to Lucas. He marveled at how much Lucas had gotten done.

“So Lucas, did you really manage to build all this?” Chu Shen marveled at the fusion bottle as the sound of plasma crackling came from it.

Lucas did a pose. “Of course I did. Otherwise, wouldn’t others call me simply a useless sidekick?”

Chu Shen looked confused. “Who would call you that?”

“All the teachers.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that, mister bodyguard.”

“…..Mention it again, and I’m teleporting you to the moon.”

“Sheesh. Anyways Lucas, how did you even get the materials? It seems like you built a lot of things that require some pretty rare stuff.” Chu Shen pointed at the laser cannon in the background.

Lucas shrugged. “The cradle-free fabricator really helped as far as making the bigger things. To be honest though, the real credit goes to the ARD.”

“What’s the ARD?” Chu Shen was confused at this.

Lucas immediately pounced on the opportunity to show off. “A.R.D. stands for Atomic Reassembling Device. Essentially it’s a device that can deconstruct items at it’s atomic level and then reassemble them in any form. For example, taking graphite and turning it into diamonds. All it requires is reassembling the way the carbon atoms are bonded to each other.

“Reassembling items like that is it’s most basic form. What it really does is it can rearrange the electrons, protons, and neutrons inside the atom’s nucleus and electron cloud. By adding more of these subatomic particles to oxygen, one can turn pure oxygen into pure iron. Of course, a room full of oxygen would only turn into a fistful of iron because of how much denser it is.

“There was a lot of rare materials that I had to find before I could even get started with making it. I spent three months just trying to track them all down. After that, I was able to make a ton of stuff without having to leave the dimension. Though I did have to go out every once in awhile and dig up mountains of dirt so that the ARD could transmute them.”

Lucas adopted a pained look at this point. “The only downside is the massive amount of power it drains to do something like that. It’s the reason that I had to make the antimatter generator. Otherwise I would have to use over a hundred Rank 7 beast cores just to power the thing.”

Chu Shen froze. One….. hundred. One hundred. One hundred beast cores!!!! Even if they were Rank 2 beast cores that was an insane amount! Lucas wasn’t talking about such low rank cores but Rank 7 cores?!!!! THIS WAS OUTRAGEOUS! It was like saying ‘I need all of the energy from one hundred Martial Kings’, all of which was needed to power one device!

Lucas saw Chu Shen’s shocked look and rolled his eyes. “Honestly Chu Shen, you should know how much energy is needed to split atoms into their subatomic particles and then fuse them to create the atom needed. Most of the energy goes towards containment. I have to be able to contain the energy of several hundred nuclear bombs inside the ARD from splitting the atoms and then harness that energy to fuse them together. Since some of the energy is lost in the transfer I also have to supply that energy.”

Chu Shen smiled. “You know, I remembered that we really are nerds. Wanna talk about hyperphysics calculations again?”

Lucas smiled back. “Nah. How about we just talk about the calculations I had to do in order to get all this together.”

“Sure. Let’s just get back to the kids first.”

“Honestly, you should stop calling them kids. They’re far more mature than most adults at this point.”

Chu Shen shrugged. “They’re all still five foot at the most. I just can’t help calling them kids even if they do have scars over their faces.”

Lucas shook his head sadly. “It is unfortunate that they had to deal with wild animals day in and day out for so long. Those scars are what made them who they are today though. They’ll soon be able to live without the threat of being killed and will be able to establish the Void Sect, just like they promised.”

Chu Shen and Lucas had approached the teachers soon after they started training at the hunting zone. Chu Shen had asked them to rename the Rising Tide Sect to Void Sect. They happily agreed saying that it was only thanks to Chu Shen that they were able to surpass their former glory. To them it was the representation of a new start, a new age for the Rising Tide, no. A new age for the Void Sect.

Chu Shen smiled. “Yeah, Master Ti Wu should be happy about that.”

Lucas shrugged. “I still think you’re crazy, talking to a ghost.”

Master Ti Wu appeared in his soul form. “What ghost! I’m still alive you brat!” Lucas didn’t respond. Unfortunately, Lucas couldn’t see Master Ti Wu. A soul form can only be perceived by another soul. Lucas didn’t have a soul, or at least, not a soul in the form martial artists knew of. As a result, he couldn’t see Master Ti Wu. As for hearing….. Lucas was just being a jerk.

Currently they were inside a small house Lucas had built after coming out from his pocket dimension. A knock came from the front door. Chu Shen looked over curiously while Lucas didn’t seem surprised at all. His sensors had detected their visitor for some time now.

Chu Shen got up and answered the door. It was Griffith. He bowed to Chu Shen. “Savior, it’s time for us to leave. The army is ready. Everyone has horses like you asked and we are ready to destroy all the cabins.”

Chu Shen and Lucas exchanged a glance. They were ready as well. “Thank you Griffith. We’ll go ahead and join you in a second.” He started to close the door before suddenly turning back to Griffith. “Is Lidia ready to go as well?”

Griffith nodded. “She seems to have a headache but is okay other than that. I heard that you gave her something to cause it?”

Chu Shen nodded. “Yes but it is a private affair between me and her. She will share it when she feels ready. Goodbye Griffith.”

He closed the door and turned to Lucas. “So you ready to go?”

Lucas nodded. “Everything’s already in my pocket dimension. I can teleport the satellites and other….equipment into it anytime I want.”

Chu Shen smiled. “Good, let’s go.”

Chu Shen and Lucas left with Griffith and the others. They rode at the front, to scout out what was ahead. The others didn’t like putting their saviors in such a dangerous position but they managed to get over it. It took a long time, two weeks actually, to get close to White Lotus City.

They were ten minutes away from the White Lotus City when they stopped. They started getting prepared to fight. Chu Shen had spent the last month forging  hand crafted items for each and every student in his downtime. Unlike before, they didn’t have to pay. He had decided that equipping the students was a good thing and he had the money to spare on materials.

He wanted the kids to be as prepared as possible and this was one of the only ways he knew how. Chu Shen and Lucas were off the side a bit, talking about where to position the drones. They were just finalizing their plans when a translucent barrier appeared around Chu Shen.

He turned and saw Lucas was also covered in the same barrier. Chu Shen instantly recognized what was happening. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was leaving.

Chu Shen yelled out the door. “GRIFFITH, WE’RE LEAVING! WE LEAVE THE DUTY OF TAKING REVENGE TO YOU!” It would be rude to leave them hanging or have them search everywhere for Chu Shen and Lucas when they would be in a completely different dimension.

Lucas was frantically teleporting all of his work into the pocket dimension. Luckily he already had a program worked out and in less than two seconds everything was secured.

Just like they had appeared, Chu Shen and Lucas vanished into thin air.

A/N: So you guys disappointed by Chu Shen and Lucas ditching their chores? Oh well, don’t you know that your friends don’t help you take out the trash. Why should they be any different. XD

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Chapter 125

I’m Training Too!

 

While the kids had definitely been training, it was Chu Shen’s turn as well. Master Ti Wu finally had some time to whip Chu Shen into shape without him being distracted by learning technology or practicing forging. He was certainly not going to let this chance go to waste.

Chu Shen spent the first month practicing the <Stellar Flame> by forging the items to sell at the store. Lucas took over selling items to the hunting store since the fabber could create weapons with inscriptions.

All he needed was Chu Shen to demonstrate an inscription once and for him to be given the necessary materials. If all that was accomplished, then Lucas could make an infinite amount of weapons exactly alike in every way. That was the power of industrialization.

Chu Shen was able to master the first stage of <Stellar Flame: Flame Blower>  and move onto the second stage, <Stellar Flame: Flame Body>. This was when one was able to emit flames from any part of their body. Chu Shen was able to do so, though it was tricky trying to heat up ore with your spine.

Chu Shen spent the other 11 months cultivating and whole heartedly training his martial arts to the new stage. Chu Shen was able to completely master the second stages for all of his martial arts in this time. He was able to start on the third stage for them but wasn’t able to actually master them, making him only capable of using the second stage for now on all his martial arts. As a matter of fact, the movement technique <Comet Travels Through> only had three stages.

Here is a list and description of all the different advancements Chu Shen made with his martial arts.

<Stellar Flame: Flame Blower> (One can shoot streams of fire from their palms), <Stellar Flame: Flame Body> (One can emit fire from any part of their body), <Stellar Flame: Sun Formation> (One forms a miniature Sun with fire).

 

<Comet Travels Through: Booming Step> (One breaks the sound barrier creating a sonic boom), <Comet Travels Through: Dust Trail> (Dust can be raised from one’s passage even over solid rock), <Comet Travels Through: Vapor Trail> (One moves so fast that vapor forms behind them from atmospheric water evaporating).

 

<Song of the Universe: Celestial Weapon> (One can vibrate their weapon and pass through body shields) <Song of the Universe: Solar Vibrations> (One can vibrate their Qi and cause internal damage), <Song of the Universe: Void Vibrations> (One can cause the air itself to vibrate, turning it into a devastating weapon).

 

<Stars Dance: Light Step> (One can solidify their Qi beneath their feet and create a step in midair), <Stars Dance: Stars Light> (One can create a bright flash of light and blind their opponent), <Stars Dance: Celestial Twin> (One can create a reflection of themselves off their Qi). 

 

<Cancellation Armor: Phantom> (One can create a translucent appearance of armor around themselves. Amplifies nullification abilities), <Cancellation Armor: Manifest> (One can create armor that looks completely real. Amplifies nullification abilities), <Cancellation Armor: Reality> (One can create armor out of Qi that exists in reality. Enhances nullification abilities). <Universe Shield: Phantom>, <Universe Shield: Manifest>, <Universe Shield: Reality>. Other than one being a shield and the other armor, there was no difference in these martial art techniques stages.

Chu Shen may have mastered all these techniques, but using them in combat was different. He had used them against beasts in the forest and sparring but a true life and death fight with a human opponent was different. It was more….intense. Until Chu Shen could use them proficiently in combat, he could really only be considered as having learned the technique and no mastering it yet.

As for cultivation. <Voids Child> had one stage called the <Voids Child: Mortal Stage>. This would last all the way until one could become a Natural Realm Cultivator. It was impossible for Chu Shen to master the first stage of his cultivation technique right now.

Chu Shen not only practiced his martial arts, he also cultivated as well. Since the kids were constantly hunting magical beasts, beast cores were plenty. Chu Shen actually took half of them for his cultivation and the rest were sold in town. Chu Shen had used hundreds of beast cores to rapidly his cultivation in the past year.

No longer was he a Martial Practitioner Level 9, or a Peak Rank 3 mage. Instead he was a Martial Army Level 2, the equivalent of a Rank 6 mage. Chu Shen also became a Rank 4 warrior during this time, which delighted Master Ti Wu to no end. Don’t forget his Void King technique though.

<Void King: Skin Forging> (One can harden their skin and make it as hard as iron), <Void King: Muscle Tempering> (One’s muscles are tempered, increasing their strength tremendously), <Void King: Bones of Null> (One’s bones become soaked in null Qi, making them tremendously durable). 

Chu Shen previously completed 30 circulations. Now he could complete 39 circulations, one circulation away from mastering the 3rd stage of the <Void King> technique. His strength had also grown tremendously. His strength was now 538 tons of force, incomparable to his previous 60.25 tons. A normal martial artist would only have 290 tons of force so Chu Shen had almost double the strength of a normal martial artist.

Not only that, Chu Shen was also able to use his money to upgrade his hammer and crossbow’s living steel with different materials. They were now comparable to a High-Tier Martial Weapon, greatly suiting Chu Shen’s current combat capabilities.

Chu Shen was not the only one upgrading things though. Lucas had been a very busy boy indeed. Lucas was able to make a pocket dimension. They had such devices on his own world but they needed a massive amount of power to open first and stabilize. After they were stabilized, they didn’t require any power to sustain.

Lucas first made a fusion bottle. A fusion bottle uses magnetic fields and plasma to generate massive amounts of power with no by-products. The downside? The thing was the size of a room. It wasn’t exactly portable. Using the fusion bottle, Lucas was able to power the spatial creation device.

It used tachyons to open up a rift in subspace and then stabilize this rift. Afterwards one could access it with a teleporter tuned to the right frequency which was actually quite power efficient. The size of this subspace was fifteen football fields wide and could be made bigger if there was more power.

To some that might not be significant. To Lucas, this was everything. Now he could create some very highly technical items while not having to worry about hiding it from everyone. The first thing Lucas made was a teleporter inside the subspace. He already had one so that he could access the subspace from normal space but it was as big as a house so it was more convenient to have one in subspace.

With the teleporter, Lucas could teleport anything with a Quantum Transponder whether it was in normal space or subspace. Lucas then used the fabricator to construct a cradle free fabricator. This kind of fabricator could construct items with no size limit because it didn’t have to hold the object internally and could create it on the ground in front of it.

One might ask by this point, how did Lucas get these materials? Well, Lucas had actually planned everything out beforehand. Using the fusion bottle, Lucas was able to boost the range on his mineral scanner. As a result, Lucas was able to find a lot more key materials for his inventions. All he had to do was go out and mine them.

Lucas was able to create a couple things with the cradle free fabricator. For one, he created multiple versions of his body and then left his positronic brain inside the subspace. The subspace controller was inside his main body that he had been using since coming to this realm. With the Quantum comms and transponders, Lucas controlling his body from light years away was a cinch.

Lucas started making pretty much anything that came to mind. Satellites for orbital mapping, tracking, and bombardment were teleported into space. He created a small spaceship but never actually launched it. Turrets hooked up with beast cores were made but never used. Lucas placed positronic brains inside every copy of him and then loaded automating programs on them.

He built an antimatter generator as well which took up over two football fields inside the pocket dimension. Using quantum entanglement, Lucas was able to use the generator to power all of his replacement bodies at once. The antimatter created power far beyond that which his current body could handle. The most he could handle was the equivalent of a Rank 7 beast core. With that, his fake body could use 301 tons.

Lucas’ pride though was the Beast Cannon. Lucas bought sixty Rank 4 beast cores using the money from the weapons he made with the fabricator. There were 20 fire, 20 wind, and 20 earth type cores. He put them inside a cannon and used the [Channeling Inscription] and [Burst Inscription] to combine them all together. Once he fired the cannon, a beam of fire, wind, and rock would be launched at the enemy. It was terrifyingly strong.

So far Lucas and Chu Shen were lucky they weren’t forced to leave by the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. It was time to stop tempting luck and finish their mission here.

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Chapter 124

A Kid’s Life

At the end of the week every student was assigned to a team and a teacher was also assigned to oversee the team. There were 16 teams of 5 students and 9 teachers. Because of this, every teacher had a second team they oversaw and the 4 extra teachers guarded the camp. The schedule was the teachers would take their first group into the forest one day and the their second group the next day once the hunting started.

Talia, Sam, George, Sarah, and Jason were all part of team 4. Assigned to oversee their team was Teacher Alfred. Alfred was also assigned to team 3. The schedule for when they started hunting was on Saturday there would be a required class. Sunday would be a resting day. Monday through Friday were the days to hunt.

Hunting wasn’t starting until two weeks from now though. Everyone first had to learn how to at least hold their weapon properly. Alfred took team 4 to the armory to pick weapons. Sam and Jason chose swords. George and Sarah picked spears. Talia chose a bow.

Alfred took them to the training zone the teachers had made while the students were in the classrooms. There, targets and dummies had been set up for training. The students were required to train while Alfred watched them.

Talia looked like she knew what she was doing. She strung the bow properly and had an armguard on. Her shooting was decent as well, only missing the target completely every twentieth shot. George swung his spear around pretty fluidly and was able to stab a vital spot like the heart or head every once in awhile. Everyone else was very nervous and awkward with the weapons they chose.

Alfred sighed. It seemed like he had his work cut out for him. For the entire week, Alfred taught the students how to thrust, parry, attack, counterattack, and dodge. He taught George and Sarah how to thrust forward with the spear and then swing the butt end of the spear to hit an opponent trying to close in on you. He didn’t have a whole lot to teach Talia. Instead he gave her advice on what kind of targets to aim for and what kind to avoid.

Next he taught everyone how to use spells. Talia, Jason, and Sam were all excellent at using magic. Sarah was moderately good but George wasn’t any good at all. George hadn’t been a mage until Chu Shen awoke him so it was to be expected. Talia and Jason had ice mana. Sam had lightning mana. George had earth mana and Sarah had darkness mana.

After that week of training, it was time to hunt. It went as expected, disastrously. The first magical beast they met was the Scorching Horned Rabbit, the same kind Chu Shen and Lucas had hunted in droves before. They were quite lucky since they were rare to meet if one didn’t cheat and use a tracking program.

The rabbit jumped out, taking Sam down instantly with a surprise attack in the form of a fireball to the back. Alfred sighed as he watched George try to stab the rabbit with his spear. The spear missed and stabbed into the ground as the rabbit jumped out of the way. A fireball was shot from it’s horn and into George, sending him flying back. He had some serious burns from the fire and collapsed where he landed, writhing in pain.

Ice shot towards the rabbit’s leg as it landed, trying to trap it. The ice hit the rabbit but the rabbit melted it in less than a second with a stream of fire from it’s horn. Jason tried to strike it with his sword while it was stuck but missed. An arrow shot past Jason, inches from his arm towards the rabbit before sticking into a tree.

The rabbit shot towards Sarah horn first. Sarah panicked and tried to get her spear up. Unfortunately, the rabbit kicked off a tree, adjusting its flight by less than an inch. That inch was enough for the rabbit to skim past Sarah’s spear and stab its horn into her shoulder, piercing her armor. Crying out loud from the pain, Sarah let go of her spear and collapsed.

Talia held her bow nervously. She was afraid of accidentally striking her comrades after barely missing Jason. The rabbit came after her next. She drew her bow instantly. She aimed at the figure of the rabbit as it hopped towards her. Jason ran over to assist her. Talia fired her arrow. It missed.

The rabbit was now coming straight at her. The horn was pointed right at her chest. Jason dove forward, thrusting his sword at rabbit. He was too slow. The sword missed the rabbit by a foot. The rabbit continued it’s path towards Talia’s heart. Talia tried to react by swinging her bow at the rabbit. The bow was hit by a fireball and thrown to the side as the rabbit continued straight at her heart.

Right as it was less an inch away, an earthen spear skewered the rabbit to a nearby tree. Alfred shook his head. Indeed these kids had a lot to learn. The next day, after Team 4 was re-equipped, they were trained by one of the teachers that guarded the camp. Alfred couldn’t since he was taking Team 3 into the forest. All of them became extremely earnest in their learning after Talia had almost died.

It took many tries over the rest of the month but eventually they managed to kill their first Rank 2 magical beast. They sold its core to the store while they had their first meal in over two weeks that didn’t consist of dry biscuits and hard meat.

By the end of the month, Team 4 had killed eight Rank 2 magical beasts and two Rank 3 magical beasts. Using the money earned over that period they were able to buy spells, techniques, and upgrade their gear.

George still had his original spear but now he also had a shield with a [Channeling Inscription]. Imbuing his earth mana into the shield allowed it to become covered in earthen spikes. With his control over his mana, George could also launch the spikes like projectiles.

Talia now had her arrows with a modified [Burst Inscription] which allowed her to store her mana inside the arrows and then explode on impact. Her ice attribute would inevitably slow down their opponent, making them easy prey. She also had a short sword as well with no additional inscriptions in case her opponent got too close.

Sam had two short swords with the [Burst Inscription] which allowed him to fire bursts of lightning at his opponents. His lightning mana allowed him to move and react extremely fast, making his choice to become a dual wielder an excellent one.

Jason had actually not changed at all, keeping his original sword. Instead he used his ice magic to attack his opponents. His skills with it had become increasingly refined, surpassing everyone else. The others did become better but most of them had increased their physical prowess.

Most didn’t focus as much on magic as Jason had. In his opinion, a physical body couldn’t travel as fast as a spell. The image of him failing to stop the Scorching Horned Rabbit from hitting Talia and then the earth shard killing it at the last second was seared into his mind. That was the reason he focused more on spell-casting then utilizing his warrior capabilities. Because a spell could save a live faster then a sword.

Sarah was the most mystical of the group. She was now equipped with multiple throwing knives, a dagger, and a crossbow mounted to her arm. Using her darkness mana, she cloaked herself in shadows. The only magic she learned was called shadow cloaking, the ability to become invisible by melding with shadows. So long as she stayed in the shadows, no one above her in Rank could see her.

Using this ability, she became the scout of the group. In a fight crossbow bolts or daggers could be seen coming from the shadows themselves. It was almost impossible to dodge them. Of course, her ability to meld into shadows was of no use against Chu Shen’s spiritual sense.

After the first month, Alfred no longer went out on their expeditions with them. In his words, they were strong enough to not have to depend on him to save them. Instead they were given bracelets on each of their arm.

The bracelets were made of steel and had a black square on the front. They were instructed to tap on them three times if they were in danger of dying and one of the teachers would be there shortly. This was, of course, an invention by Lucas. It would broadcast a homing beacon once activated that Lucas could then track down.

There was always a teacher on rescue duty who had a tracker. Once there was an alert, that teacher would go out and rescue the students while another teacher took over their job since there could be multiple calls.

On the third month their Saturdays were taken over by sparring. There was a competition every Saturday in which all of the teams would face off in a bracket style competition. Whoever won would get a set amount of contribution points as a prize.

At the start of the fourth month, they destroyed their camp site and moved to a Rank 4 and Rank 5 hunting zone. It was a necessity as most of the students were now Rank 4 mages and there were a few that were Rank 4 warriors as well. Most of them were only Rank 2 warriors. This kind of power level was simply too much for that Rank 3 hunting zone to pose a challenge.

This training continued for a whole year. At the end of the twelfth month the students had graduated to a Rank 6 hunting zone. This was the highest rank hunting zone possible and they were only allowed to hunt three times a month. They had already been there for three months. Most of their other time was spent cultivating their warrior capabilities or sparring. The Saturday sparring had been replaced with team sparring. This was where at random the 16 groups would be split into 2 8 group teams and fight. It was preparation for when they would fight the Asura Sect.

As for their strength…. there was now 2 Rank 3 Warriors, 72 Rank 4 Warriors, 5 Rank 5 Warriors, and a single Rank 6 Warrior. Remember though, every single student was a battle mage, being both a warrior and a mage.

There were 4 Rank 5 Mages, 41 Rank 6 Mages, 33 Rank 7 Mages and two Rank 8 Mages. Those two Rank 8 Mages were, of course, Chrissa and Aslo. After all, they already had a head start on everyone else. As for the teachers, all of them had become Rank 8 Battle mages, meaning they were a Rank 8 mage and warrior simultaneously.

These kids were no longer innocent and weak, hesitating or scared. They had scars from their fights with beasts, giving them a fierce aura. Their attitudes had changed. It had changed into the kind of attitude one gained from war. This attitude contrasted sharply with their scarred, youthful faces. It was definitely weird but no one who saw how powerful they were would ever mock them for being such.

Finally, it was time to destroy those malevolent sects.

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