Yani City was, in essence, a C Rank City but it stood at the very apex of C ranked cities. One could even say that its grandeur could match up to some B rank Cities of the lowest order. It was a coastal city, which primarily survived on free trade and tourism. It was a free city without any allegiance to any country whatsoever. It was run by a mayor, who was elected by a council of elders.
These elders represented the most powerful families within the City but four families stood above the rest. These were the Dwight family, the York family, the Oxlade family and the Cole Family.
The Dwight family was mostly involved in City management, resulting in them having the greatest number of elders within the council. The current Mayor was also from the Dwight family. The York Family was in control of public security and the Army, due to the fact that the majority of the highest ranking soldiers was either from the family or had pledged allegiance to the family. The Oxlade family, were real estate giants and owned the majority of the inns, taverns and auction houses within the city.
The Cole family had the smallest number of members within the elder's council, but no one in the city would deny that it had the second most terrifying presence within the city. This was due to the fact that ninety percent of the goods that went in and outside the city, went through their hands. They owned the majority of the ships, caravans, carts and other modes of transport and were essentially the kings of trade.
Unlike the other 3 families, the Cole family had only recently came into power. The other 3 had been in power for many generations and were aristocratic in nature. Kai and Shasha instantly recognized the duo that was approaching them. The fat one was a member of the Oxlade family. The thin and pale one was a member of the Dwight family. They were both young masters of their families and had quite the status because of it, but due to the fact that they were very perverse, they were infamous.
Their names were Edward Dwight and Maxwell York. On plenty of occasions, many young women had been taken against their will by the two. That day, they had a new target but unlike their usual victims, this time they were targeting Shasha, or rather what Shasha possessed. As soon as the duo and their entourage of warriors and servants arrived, they put on amiable expressions. Yet in Bastian's eyes, it did little to hide their pride.
"Shasha, old friend, how lovely to see you here." said Edward with a hint of mockery. "Indeed, Shasha these days we barely hear from you. Where are you hiding that beautiful sister of yours lately? Surely you couldn't possibly be trying to avoid us are you?" said Maxwell, lust evident in his eyes, which were squished together by the globs of fat smothering his face.
"Haha, Maxwell, Edward, how lovely to see you. I have been...around." said Shasha, as a cold bead of sweat ran down his back. He had a bad history with these two and he didn't have the courage to face them. Shasha was a very kind person but often, he was too kind to the point that he didn't know how to fight back. He was meek by nature and always sought to avoid conflict.
Kai was a servant, so he had no standing to get involved in these discussions. He would only step in if the situation became dire. Kai also hoped that these sort of situations would help Shasha improve as a person. Yet the opposite occurred, Shasha seemed to become more and more of a recluse as time went on.
Things would be much better if Shasha's little sister was there, unfortunately, she was no longer there. So Shasha had lost his most important emotional pillar and the only person at his social standing who could help him in such situations.
"Well Shasha we have been busy lately and have a lot to do, so let us cut to the chase. We want these two gladiators you have. Name your price." said Edward with an air of confidence. Shasha's face became ugly as soon as he heard these words. The normally calm Kai couldn't help but frown as well.
Their household was essentially broke and desperately needed money, which was why they had resorted to this sort of method to make money. Shasha, who disliked violence, would never have done such a thing yet, he felt he had no choice.
Now the two of the most frightening people to Shasha had given him such a good chance to make money, one that would also allow him to leave the fighting. Normally the meek and cowardly Shasha would never refuse such an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
"I refuse." the meek and kind Shasha immediately refused the offer that he had been given by Edward. His tone showing that there was no room for negotiations. Kai was not surprised by this, because there were only a few things that would harden Shasha's heart, and breaking his wordw as one of them. Shasha had promised Kenshin and their freedom if they went undefeated. He had even gone as far as to make an oath to the heavens to ease Bastian and Kenshin.
Even if he had not, his actions at this moment would be no different. Kai observed Bastian and Kenshin to see what their reactions were. Although they had only spent a few weeks with each other, Kai knew that Kenshin and Bastian were no fools. Kai had a more favorable impression of Kenshin but multiple times in the past, Kenshin would tell Kai these words.
Bastian is not a fool. He just chooses not to think. He is not deaf. He just chooses not to listen. But most importantly, he is not blind. He just chooses not to see. When he does choose to think, listen and see, he becomes frightening.
Kai had still not understood what Kenshin meant by those words, because as far as he was concerned, Bastian was an overzealous annoyance. Yet Kenshin was a man who barely spoke and treated his words like gold, so they were not to be taken lightly.
Kai immediately turned to look at Bastian and Kenshin, he felt he somewhat understood what Kenshin meant. Bastian's face was indifferent, calm, and expressionless. He even yawned, as if nothing in front of him was out of the ordinary.
...
Although Bastian seemed to be uninterested, Kai could see the brief embers of a certain emotion within Bastian's eyes. Kai's ability to judge others was not comparable to Bastian's but as a high level cultivator, he was easily able to see through Bastian's little façade.What is that? Pride? Arrogance? Or is it disdain? No, these are not quite right.It took Kai a fraction of a second to quickly process his thoughts before coming to a conclusion.That's right. It's disgust. There is no doubt about it.People assume that the most negative emotion one can feel for others is hatred but that is not the case. Disgust is the worst feeling one can feel for another. In the short amount of time Kai had spent with Bastian, he had seen a myriad of expressions from the youth but disgust was not one of them.On the contrary, Bastian was a person with almost no pride at all. He was fine with anything, ate anything so long as it was edible, and wore anythi
Kai's mind slowed time around him at that very instant, although he was curious as to how Kenshin had gotten so close behind him, at that time, he had more things to worry about. Kenshin knew that if Kai wanted to, he could easily dispatch the brutes that Maxwell had ordered to attack Bastian, so he acted quickly to halt Kai's actions.Kai quickly looked around, with a questioning look on his face. Kenshin merely shook his head and used his chin to point at Bastian. Kai followed Kenshin's advice and looked toward Bastian, pnly to once again be surprised. Bastian had his eyes closed! That was effectively sealing off one of his most important senses if not the most important one, especially when a battle was about to occur.Kai wondered why Bastian, a mage, would do something so foolish, only to remember a crucial fact in that instant. Bastian and Kenshin were Soul Brethren!....A few hours earlier, just after Ruka had been taken care of, Bastian and Kensh
According to Kenshin, there were two types of fights, battles and lessons. Battles were fights where two or more parties with near equal battle ability had a conflict. A lesson was just like the name itself. Kenshin called it a lesson, because in such a fight, all one can do, is pay to attention and hope to learn something. Kenshin was curious as to how Bastian would handle this fight. Would he battle it out with his enemies? Or would he teach them a lesson?Either way Kenshin had no doubt that Bastian would surprise him. Luckily for him, Bastian was ready to teach the Teachers. The Teachers moved like ghosts as they quickly made their way to Bastian unobstructed. Kai's strength was infamous in this city, so the duo were sure that Kai would intercept them, yet he did not, much to their happiness. Arias and Pountus were two warriors with a high reputation amongst warriors within Yani City. Both were water attribute warriors, so they specialized in speed, which was part of the
The hall, in which Bastian and Kenshin were being received, was near the center of the city. It was a grand, majestic structure, and likewise the buildings near it were just as grand. Next to the grand hall was a grand hotel. Within one of the hotel rooms were two gentlemen drinking wine whilst seated at a balcony. They were looking at the hall next door, with expressions so somber one would think they could see inside it. Yet strangely, if someone did think of such a thing, then that person would be correct."Hahahahahahaha, little Shasha has found himself some interesting companions." said one of the gentlemen. He was a tall and very masculine man. His face was rugged and facial hair covered most of his face."Sir Tendai, Lord Titus has reminded me to inform you that we have little time to spend fiddling around in such an area." said the other man, who looked no different from a scholar. His bearded compatriot shrugged his shoulders."Surely you must allow me
In a massive circular stadium, fans were in an incredible state of euphoria as they expected an incredible day of fights. The elite gladiator league had entered its second and final stage.The second stage was a simple knockout stage, starting with 256 participants, eventually finishing with one.It was being held in a very large stadium filled with thousands upon thousands of viewers. That stadium was a combination of magic and mathematics which would boggle the feeble minded.The stadium was circular and was similar in shape to arenas from ancient Rome, except that the scale was much, much larger.A round of fights would be held every week, with all of the fights occurring within the arena. The VIP section had screens made from magic, to allow them to get a better view, whereas, the normal viewers had no choice but to use the best of their optical abilities. Most of the viewers were cultivators, albeit weak ones, thus their senses were far stronger than
Bastian had easily cruised through the second half of the elite gladiator league. At the level which followed, all he needed to do was wait to be attacked and retaliate. Bastian had also received his treasured gauntlets, the ones he had seen the first time he had been in the arena.Right then, just like before, he had no idea what to do with them. All he knew was that they allowed him to cultivate even under the influence of enchanted shackles. He did know that the enchanted shackles he had were fire and water attribute enchanted.They were also incredibly hard. Bastian had been told by Kenshin that, there was no cultivator, below the foundation building realm, who could even put a scratch on them, let alone use them to their true potential. Bastian knew not to question Kenshin further, so he simply nodded his head and decided to use their hardness to his advantage.Using his gauntlets, Bastian only needed one hit to dispatch his opponents and he did so in the s
At times often like this one, warriors would be given the opportunity to sit among the spectators and observe the proceedings, but Bastian always chose otherwise. He couldn't care less who won what.Even if a warrior capable of threatening him came, he was confident he would be able to handle him or her. He was more worried about other things. As he entered the warriors' quarters, he chose a bench and lay down on it to rest.Only the warriors participating that day would be in those quarters. In the past, there were hundreds of them and some had the courage to attack Bastian. This was so due to the fact that, the Dwight and the York families had placed a bounty on his head.Bastian had to deal with multiple attacks in the warriors quarters in the past few weeks but the results were always the same. All who attacked him died horrifying deaths, without question. Since it was always in self-defense and since such things occurred often amongst gladiators, Bastian wo
In a restaurant within a private room, sat Shasha, Kai and some guests, Shasha had intended to enjoy the string of victories that his fighters had brought for him, which resulted in him, effectively securing the financial success of his home. However he had received some unexpected guests.At first, when he heard the announcement about certain individuals who had just arrived, he thought those were either Edwin or Maxwell. So he intended to run away, but when the servant who was catering for him told him who had arrived, Shasha's face became extremely ugly, and Kai followed suit.The room was quite an expensive one. It was very spacious and had a large table that could seat twenty people. Shasha, who had lived as a miser, according to his standards, wanted to splurge and enjoy himself. Yet he never expected that the room he had booked would actually be full, and that the table would have no free seat available.Shasha was usually not good at handling such situat