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 some time to relax; after all, it is not often that I get to see such an interesting show. Besides, this time my brother is involved, I am obligated to pay attention. Bongai, surely even a man such as you has siblings? So you must understand how I feel."
Bongai could not help but feel uncomfortable, for Tendai's words were seeking empathy but his eyes were like a predator, looking at its prey.
"Those are not the eyes one has when they look at their family Sir Tendai." said Bongai in an unpleasant tone. Tendai ignored him and kept looking at the grand hall, or rather, the events occurring within.
After a while, Tendai's face grew a savage grin. "It seems my brother is in good hands. I will leave this city to these capable hands."
Bongai frowned but in the end said nothing. He knew Tendai long enough to know that once he had that expression, not even mountains can move him.
"Tino! I am leaving this city to my brother. For now, I want you and your warriors to settle in. You may reveal yourselves to light...I mean Shasha when sufficient preparations have been made. Failure is not an option. You may be dismissed." said Tendai while leisurely drinking his wine.
There didn't seem to be anyone else in the room besides Tendai and Bongai, yet his orders were met by a feminine voice so alluring it could melt the hearts of even the cruelest of men. "Yes my lord."
....
A day or two later, Bastian and Kenshin were sitting in a room at a distant location. The moment he had woken up and gathered his wits, Bastian had been told by Kenshin that he was being searched for throughout the city, thus under Kai's orders, they were to hide until the next part of the tournament began.
The Dwight and York families were sparing no expense to find Bastian. Due to Kai's presence, they could do nothing to Shasha or his household but Bastian had acted out of line. Under the unspoken rules Masters had, the Dwight and York families were allowed to take action, so long as they found Bastian.
Until the next part of the tournament took place, Bastian and Kenshin were to lay low. To improve their odds of not being found, Kenshin had even made Bastian bald, much to the latter's despair.
His eye brows had been shaved as well, producing quite the odd sight. Bastian knew that he only had himself to blame for his current predicament but it didn't help improve his mood.
Kai had kept in contact with Kenshin through means unknown to Bastian. The two were currently staying in a rented room in one of the poorest areas of the city. Without his research materials, Bastian felt like he had lost the will to live.
His eyes were lifeless and his skin was incredibly pale. Kenshin knew Bastian well enough to know that few things could move him at that time. Bastian wanted to continue his research.
"Bastian, what is your goal in life?" At that moment, the duo was lying on their beds 'staring' at the roof. Bastian couldn't find a suitable answer for Kenshin's question so he just grunted.
"Before you came here, your goal was to take back your kingdom and to live a life of luxury was it not?" Kenshin didn't show it but just like Bastian, he was bored. He had already trained for the day.
Their current situation called for them to limit their movements, and even if it didn't, Kenshin had nowhere he wanted to go. So Kenshin entered a rare state of boredom. Thus he chose to alleviate his boredom by asking Bastian what his current goal was, only to meet a brick wall.
Bastian was still brooding, and showed no intention of answering. The reversal of roles amused Kenshin but he knew Bastian well enough to get him talking.
"If you answer my question, I can tell you-" before Kenshin could finish his sentence, a loud commotion outside grabbed his attention. Bastian also noticed this commotion, and decided to see what the fuss was about.
He walked out of the door and looked toward the street; a mob had gathered on the streets and they were going crazy. Someone had thrown coins on the ground. Silver coins for that matter and just walked away. The people had begun a mad scramble for the coins. After a few more seconds, the scramble was over, and the winners ran away with their spoils, with the losers chasing after them.
Resulting in the street being once more deserted, except for one person, she was incredibly beautiful. Perfect skin, fair hair, blue eyes, a curvy body with a waist most men would do anything to wrap their arms against.
Her expression was cold, emotionless even. Yet that only added to her charm. She was dressed in simple robes and walked straight toward Bastian and Kenshin.
Bastian was not in the mood for this sort of thing and was about to walk away when her words stopped him in his tracks. "Bastian Smith, the King of Titans. It is an honor to meet you."
'The King of Titans' this name was legendary when Tino was growing up. His tales were as timeless as the sands of time themselves. His feats were matchless, and no one had been able to overcome them, past, present and future.
Tino had grown up hearing this name almost every day of her life. When it wasn't being said, it was being sung. When it wasn't being sung, it was being written. This absolute legend of legends, The King of Titans, Bastian Smith, was right before her.
"Yawn. Where did you hear that name?"
Never in her entire life had she expected to see him. Yet what she saw before her fell far short of the legends. There was no long purple hair with a red hue.
There was no muscular physique that had reached the limits of what humans could achieve and there was no earth shattering voice that could move armies and bring down the heavens.
No instead, what she got was a bald, heterochromatic youth with pale skin, no eyebrows and the voice of a child.
She grabbed his hands and sent her yuan into his hands, and she could sense remnants of the gauntlets. This meant that he was without a doubt Bastian Smith.
Yet she couldn't help but be disappointed. She realized that that was not the time. With a heavy sigh she disappeared. Bastian was a bit surprised by what he had seen because he had no doubt that, what he felt entering his hands was yuan.
Kenshin on the other hand was very surprised. He knew that they would meet people who were special like Bastian but he didn't expect it to happen so soon. Kenshin was also surprised by the fact that the girl had left his mind. The more he tried to think about her, the more she disappeared.
"Kenshin, you asked me what my goal is at the moment right? Well I didn't really have one but now it's to find out who that girl was." Said Bastian as he thought about what had just happened. The look of worship, the girl had when she mentioned his name and the disappointment that she showed seconds afterwards caught Bastian's attention.
The strange title that she said and the fact that she could use yuan, she had brought a lot of confusing factors that Bastian wanted to figure out. He was too tired and too lazy to do anything about it, so for now he intended to sleep.
As soon as Bastian got back indoors, Kenshin still remained outside because there was something confusing him.
What girl is Bastian talking about?
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
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