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 same manner every single time. He would hit their bodies and slam them into the floor of the arena. Using his understanding of forces granted from his bloodline, Bastian would force the impact to create an image of the Taiji on the ground.
He did this because according to Kai, all the great gladiators had a means of making the crowd go wild. That was Bastian's way of simply following instructions. He only cared about finishing that tournament and gaining his freedom.
Just after Kenshin had regained his consciousness, Bastian had proposed a plan to him but the majority of it could not be enacted whilst they were slaves. So at that moment, he had to focus on winning the two star tournaments.
Even though Bastian had an easy time, he was very unhappy. He had finally broken through to the lower fighter/acolyte level, gaining a few new perks, only to hear Kenshin say "It's time for me to break through."
The other thing Bastian knew was that Kenshin was a Teacher. Bastian had been in Kenshin's vicinity the entire time, yet he had felt nothing indicating a breakthrough. Bastian had painstakingly absorbed energy from daemon cores and stabilized his cultivation base, yet Kenshin broke through when he felt like it. Bastian was outraged by that.
Bastian knew that Kenshin was above his league but he still felt as if he could catch up with him. Kenshin was an enigma but Bastian was confident that with time, he could unravel him. Yet Kenshin though, felt like he was getting further and further out of Bastian's reach. With Bastian's gifts, it was not hard for him to tell that Kenshin was waiting for him to break though.
Is he baiting me? Is he trying to get me to cultivate?
Bastian tried to think of his companion's motive, yet that resulted in a dead end. At the end of the day, Bastian decided to just do what he could. Kenshin was not hostile, on the contrary, Bastian felt as if Kenshin seemed to have his back.
After his cultivation breakthrough, Kenshin opted for the three star tournament. He challenged a qualifier from the first round and entered. At that time, just like Bastian, he was undefeated. The name The Blind Swordsman rang out across the minds of countless people within Yani City.
Bastian could tell that not only was Kenshin not hostile but he was feeling more familiar around him. He felt that that was maybe a side effect of the Soul Brethren contract; nevertheless, there was another issue.
The girl who called me The King Of titans! Kenshin didn't remember her!
Bastian and Kenshin had received an odd visitor, a girl, who Bastian had been trying to figure out. Somehow though, that girl managed to escape Kenshin's mind. Bastian had over time, realized through conversing with Kenshin that he didn't remember her.
Bastian knew that she was not a dream, because traces of her existence, such as her scent, were still there. Sometimes Bastian felt that she was following him. He however, kept quiet about that issue because he didn't want to sound insane. He therefore waited until he himself, was able to find out what he wanted.
At that time, after his battle with the big woman, he felt another familiar scent, the scent of the woman who had brought him to the eastern islands.
She probably thinks I can't tell she is here, I don't want to damage her pride, so for now let me pretend as if I can't see her.
Bastian steadily walked out of the arena toward the participant's area.
...
"I told you he had potential. Did you bring what I requested?" In the stadium, at one of the various sections commoners sat at an area where, a woman who had a mohawk and a man who was dressed like a beggar were speaking. The beggar spoke first, and he smiled, as he looked at Bastian was not difficult to see for it exposed most of his ugly teeth, much to the woman's disgust.
"Yes I have, what happened to the previous body? It was at least bearable. This one smells horrible." said the woman as she waved her hand in front of her nose.
"He had...an accident, let's just say I'm getting used to using a mortal's body. Anyway make your preparations and plant the seed tonight; I need to see just how valuable my investment is. Besides I can't wait, look at me Owami, I'm as giddy as a child haha." laughed the man.
Owami nodded and rolled her eyes as she looked at Bastian walking away. He still didn't look special to her but she knew very well that Minister Li's most frightening ability was his ability to judge potential.
Like lightning, her silhouette flashed and she disappeared. None of the spectators were bothered by that. They behaved almost as if she was never there in the first place. The beggar just sat there like he always did, smiling with eyes that were so narrow you could doubt if he could see.
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
Shasha, Bastian, Kai and Kenshin walked back to Shasha's abode in silence. Bastian had received word telepathically from Kenshin that they had no need to hide from their pursuers for now. Shasha was in a bad mood which made the air heavy.Bastian had never seen the silly and childish Shasha look so serious. It did not feel natural, especially considering the fact that Bastian was a master at reading expressions. To him this sudden shift in character was too drastic.It seems I didn't know as much about Shasha as I thought I did. But still, the change shouldn't be this bad.Along the way they met with a few hindrances, but a look from Kai would scare them away. They arrived at Shasha's house only to be stopped by the door by Kai. Kai whispered something into Shasha's ears. Bastian did not know what Kai told Shasha and he couldn't hear a single thing that Kai had said. All he could tell was that Shasha's face was now far graver than before."Kenshin and Bas
When Bastian heard Tino's voice through Kenshin's link, he felt like he had been struck by lightning. Kenshin could feel a slight disturbance from Bastian's side, but now was not the time to split focus on such a thing, for the spell he was using used up much of his mindIt's her! What the heck is she doing here? And judging from the conversation she is familiar with Shasha and Kai.Bastian listened to the conversation attentively while coming up with a plan.Hhmm, I see. She was sent by Shasha's brother, and judging from what we have seen and heard from today, Shasha is the prince of a country that is powerful. Interesting, he did well to hide this.Then another phrase surprised Bastian. "Is there anywhere in this world that can hide us from him? Kai you and I both know that this world will soon fall into our father's hands. There will be nowhere for us to hide. We have no choice but to do this. You know far more than me the consequences of not following
When Bastian had gotten all the information he could get out of Li, he left the space, only to see Kenshin standing in front of the door like a statue, paying Bastian no mind whatsoever."Kenshin, do you have a way to prevent sound from leaking from a room, to the point where even you can't hear anything?" said Bastian telepathically to Kenshin. Kenshin nodded. "Do you trust me?" Once more Kenshin nodded to Bastian's telepathic message after showing a slight message. Sighing in relief, Bastian told Kenshin what he needed to do, and to former's surprise Kenshin agreed....."Knowledge, what kind of knowledge do you want?" Shasha was in a bind, so he was willing to grab any opportunity to help him, even if it came from a slave, right now he wasn't even thinking of credibility, much less the fact that Bastian had heard his conversation with Tino.At this point Bastian looked at Kenshin and nodded. In response, Kenshin formed some seals, and a formless energy
"Young master I hope we have made the right decision.""Of course we have, or rather to be honest; we had no choice in this issue."Kai and Shasha were sitting in the office discussing the events from the day before. Kenshin and Bastian had not arrived yet, so the duo were just having some small talk, which followed along the usual formula of Shasha sounding confident and Kai being overly cautious."Good morning gentlemen." Bastian entered the room with Kenshin in tow. Kenshin immediately performed the necessary procedures to make the room sound proof and sat next to Bastian in front of Shasha's desk."So young master, have you prepared what I asked for." asked Bastian."Ah yes, of course, Kai please bring them out." replied ShashaWith a wave of his hand, a bunch of documents appeared on the table. Maps, diagrams and scrolls of all sorts were covering the whole desk. Those were details concerning Yani City, from the population, to detailed
At that moment, in his mind, Bastian was facing a dilemma. He was not sure just how much Tino could be trusted, nor was he sure enough that she would be able to execute the plans he had in mind. At times like those however, there was only one option, move forward and hope for the best. Well as far as Bastian was concerned anyway.Bastian signaled for Kenshin to take down the barrier he had put up and nodded toward Shasha. "Tino, come here immediately, I have a mission for you."It wasn't even ten breathes when Tino suddenly arrived within the room. To her surprise, Bastian and Kenshin were in the room as well.That's odd, how did they enter here without me noticing?After looking at Kenshin for less than a fraction of a second, Tino's eyes flashed with awareness."I am here your highness, what can I do to serve you?" said Tino, with her typical seductive tone. Shasha was usually affected by it, but at that time, in such a situation, he knew he coul
No one in the office had expected things to get this far out of hand. Shasha sighed in resignation while the usually calm Kenshin even raised a brow due to the surprise he was feeling. Never would he have expected such a thing to occur."Bitch, do you doubt me when I say that the next time a hand touches you within this office will be the day your pointless life ends?" said Bastian with a devilish smile. Tino barely had any time to process what had happened when Bastian's words assailed her ears. She could barely believe what had happened.As expected of him, I barely saw him coming. He has been hiding his true strength this whole time. He clearly planned this ahead of time. I have to tread carefully in his presence from now on."No, I do not doubt your words." Tino's looked toward Bastian, and her eyes clearly showed that she saw him in a new light."Good, now leave the office. You have your mission." Bastian waved his hand as if an annoying fly was in h