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 would not be disqualified, rather he would become even more infamous.
Bastian laid down on the bench and closed his eyes, eventually falling asleep. To an amateur he was full of openings and many in the past had sought to take advantage of those openings. Yet a truly experienced warrior rcould tell that, in that seemingly vulnerable stance, there were no openings, just death, waiting for those who sought it.
After taking his nap, Bastian woke up and left the stadium slightly disappointed that no one had attacked him. At that time, only somewhat powerful and well experienced warriors were left, and they knew what Bastian was capable of.
Bastian had intentionally baited any fools who wanted to attack him, but to no avail. So after seeing that he had not caught any bait, he decided to go home. Warriors who were participating could leave anytime they wanted.
At one of the many exits Bastian walked out, a purple ball of mana twisting and churning in his open palm. Although none of the two star participants dared to attack him, outside the arena many Teachers were lying in wait. They had done that within the previous few weeks.
The two boys responsible for these attacks had little to no influence in their respective families, but Bastian had effectively spat on the faces of both their families, thus Teachers were sent to hunt Bastian down. The two families had many spies throughout the city, yet none could locate where Kenshin and Bastian stayed. The only time they knew his whereabouts was when they saw him leaving the stadium, just like at that particular moment.
There were hundreds of people crowded in the dusty streets around the entrances to the gargantuan stadium. These people were entering and leaving the stadium, giving Bastian lots of cover. It was a fact that Teachers were feared for a reason. Therefore, even for Bastian, that cover still was not enough.
So that day, Bastian did what he usually did. He activated his custom made pressure air spell Initiato, just as he was about to leave. No one dared to attack him inside the stadium due an unspoken rule, thus they could only attack when he was a certain distance away from the entrance.
Tens of Teachers created a net around Bastian and started encroaching around him, as they usually did, in a futile attempt to catch the boy. Yet the same thing, that had hindered them in their many previous attempts to catch Bastian in the past happened.
"Crescendo."
The moment the surrounding Teachers heard that phrase, their expressions became ugly to behold and they ran with all their might toward Bastian, but that was too late for them.
"Boom!"
A massive dust cloud formed around everyone, completely destroying any visibility the people had, well, except for Bastian. All he had to do was activate f-vision and e-vision and apply vector steps, and no one would have an idea which direction he had gone, by the time the Teachers managed to clear the cloud he was long gone.
Bastian chuckled as he heard his pursuers cursing as he left. Within a few breathes worth of time, he was already a few kilometers away, blended into a crowd at a street corner, that was at a completely different section of the city, in a different set of clothing.
With his hood on, he would move through the streets like a normal person, completely escaping the net that the Dwights and Yorks had placed for him.
Now to find Kenshin, he should be at the meeting spot by now.
If chasing Bastian was like chasing a legend, then chasing Kenshin was like chasing a myth. He was no different from air itself if he chose to hide. He did not even give his pursuers the chance to even see his shadow.
So Bastian had no doubt that his friend was already at the spot with his trade mark frown, and Bastian was right. The duo liked to meet in a tavern in one of the poorest districts within Yani City. It was run down, had poor service and smelled terrible, yet it was always crowded, exactly what they were looking for.
"You are late." said Kenshin as he was drinking water
"Well I was held back, seeing as some of us are still human. Speaking of which, how did your match go? Did you at least let your opponent leave the stadium in one piece?" teased Bastian.
"Irrelevant, why ask when you already know the answer to the question. I have a message from Kai; he wants us to meet with him at a certain location. Let us leave immediately." Kenshin stood up without even waiting for Bastian's response and walked out of the tavern, Bastian cursed underneath his breathe and followed suit.
How does he even communicate with that stuck up butler? He hadn't even told me yet.
To Kenshin, that was walking but Bastian knew that it wasn't that simple. Every time Kenshin took a step, Bastian would have to take three to make up for it. Bastian knew that Kenshin had input insights into this odd movement but that was the limit of what Bastian could do to mimic Kenshin.
As they were walking, Bastian noticed that they were headed toward the more financially stable areas of Yani City. There were few places like those. Places which did not bring about worries concerning one's survival at all. As Bastian was pondering on such matters, Kenshin suddenly scaled up a building, which caught Bastian off guard a little bit, but he was able to do the same.
In a city filled with cultivators such a sight although a bit unusual was seen every day, so barely anyone payed attention to it.
Bastian was wondering why Kenshin had them do that since the latter was aware that they were trying to avoid attention. The action he had just taken would definitely make it harder for them to do so. When Bastian climbed up the roof, he understood well what was happening.
A wave of hostile intent hit him like a tsunami. Kenshin had stopped in his tracks, he didn't need to say anything, since he knew what Bastian was capable of. He merely signaled for Bastian to sit down, which Bastian obliged to.
Bastian sat down and looked onward. He had a few regrets in his life because he always lived life to its fullest, or rather he attempted to. Yet, at that particular time, he did have something to regret about. His only regret was that, he had no popcorn to see the show that was about to unfold. Then Bastian realized a crucial fact and face-palmed.
I hate popcorn!
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
As soon as Bastian disappeared from the space, another form appeared in his place. Normally that would not be possible, as the space was only accessible by an investor, avatar or mark bearer. Surprisingly, Li being the witty man he was had found a backdoor to that rule, and his backdoor was the use of Soul Brethren."Hello Kenshin or should I say Taiga, well that doesn't matter. Anyway I have given you plenty of time to think it over, so you should already have an answer. So, young man what will it be?"In front of Li stood Kenshin, his lifeless pupils giving out a tinge of hostile intent, Li had gotten used to being despised throughout his life, but something about being disliked by the man before him gave him goose bumps."Minister Li, what you are asking me to do is not only dishonorable, it is vile. Bastian is my brother, though not by choice. He is still family to me none the less." said Kenshin as he crossed his arms."Now, now Kenshin, we have been