Inside a room, Bastian and Kenshin were seated on their beds, while Shasha and Kai were standing over their beds. The four had been conversing for quite some time before they were silent.
Kai then said, "Let me get this straight. Your name is Bastian, you were a low ranking noble who was living in the Western Deserts. You got knocked out by a random cultivator and ended up in the arena without knowing how or why you got there. When you ended up seeing the blind disa-, ehem I mean Kenshin, you suddenly had the urge to assist him. Your knowledge of souls led you to conclude that becoming Soul Brethren with Kenshin would help him, thus you initiated the ritual by yourself, resulting in you temporarily alleviating Kenshin of his problem. Did I miss anything out?" said Kai.
"Nope, that's the story." said Bastian while nodding. An action Bastian found difficult, as he had gone quite a long time without eating, were it not for his unique physique and cultivation, he would most likely be a corpse by now.
"Do you really expect me, your father, to believe such a ridiculous story? Fuck off!" Kai was infuriated at the moment. The past two weeks had been some of the worst two weeks of his life, because Shasha had been very depressed, forcing him to scratch his head 24-7 trying to figure out a way to cheer him up, and now he had heard a ridiculous story.
Taken from the Western Deserts? Attacked by a random cultivator? Having an urge to become Soul Brethren with a random stranger!?? Fuck your granny!
Kai was so angry he wanted to curse nine generations of Bastian's family. What even angered him more was that Kenshin, formerly known as the blind disaster, was not only blind, but he refused to talk!
Bastian was at that time, a Soul Brethren with him, meaning they were then able to communicate telepathically. According to the explanation given by Bastian, Kenshin was a man a few words. Kai wanted to rip Kenshin and Bastian apart where they were. Unfortunately he could not because at that moment, as he stood there infuriated, his master was crying. Yes crying but this was not sadness. These were tears of joy.
According to Bastian, even though Kenshin was blind, he could observe the world through his Soul Force and was a master swordsman. Shasha had seen Bastian decimate Tate, so he knew Bastian had high standards when it came to warriors. At first Kenshin had been forced into Shashas hands by his family, but at this time, not only does he have one fighter who has incredible potential, he has two! And they were both young!
Unlike Kai, Shasha did not care how or why they had gotten where they were. All he cared about was the fact that they were healthy and that they could fight for him.
I can finally gain some face in Yani City hahahahahahaha!
Sniffling, Shasha wiped away his tears and ordered Kai to bring in food for the two. Begrudgingly, Kai followed his orders, and came back with a group of servants holding trays filled with lot of food, mostly comprised of meat and starch, to restore the duo to their top condition.
Whilst they were asleep, Kai had checked their cultivation, Bastian's cultivation was not that impressive but Kenshin was another story. He was already an advanced Fighter, only half a step away from breaking through to the next tier!
Kenshin could not be older than 16. Such a Talent was very useful. Kai was angry that Bastian and Kenshin were not telling him what he wanted to hear but judging from his Master's face, these two were not simply going to be treated as slaves.
Kai and Kenshin started stuffing their faces. They showed no etiquette whatsoever and ate like their lives depended on it.
"Young men, eat slowly. Remember, one eats to live, one does not live to eat." said Kai with a tinge of disdain.
"Haha ignore Kai, he is just jealous that I do not give him as much attention. Anyway, tell me more about yourselves." said Shasha enthusiastically.
"Well, I am a low ranking noble. My father was a high ranking noble and my mother was a servant. I am a bastard and had little talent, thus I am not valued in my family and have little value. Kenshin has amnesia, and all he remembers is his name. I am a mage and Kenshin is a warrior." said Bastian while stuffing his mouth.
""A mage!?"" Kai and his Master shouted at the same time in shock. They had seen Bastian fight. Although he was inexperienced, his body was incredibly powerful and looked well trained. When Kai inspected Bastian's body, he used World Energy to sense Bastian's cultivation; whether or not Bastian used mana or qi he could not tell. But as far as Kai was concerned, it was a no brainer, as Bastian's physical attributes were too extreme for a mage.
Qi changes one's body over time, improving your physical attributes. Also to make your body retain more qi one trains a lot. Bastian's body was at the peak of perfection. For a mage to be so physically fit was quite unusual.
"I do not believe it! You keep spewing nonsense! I will take no more of it!" said Kai with his eyes bloodshot. Bastian merely opened his palm, and allowed some mana to leek. A purple like energy formed in his palm. Kai saw this and opened his eyes in shock.
Kai's cultivation base was quite solid. So his sensitivity to energies was also acute. He knew that this was without a doubt mana.
"Hahahahahahaha! A mage and a swordsman! You two shall make an excellent combination!" Between Shashas loud laughter and the duos loud munching, Kai found his head throbbing. He massaged his aching temples, in a futile attempt to calm his nerves.
...
The next few days were spent getting the two used to their new home. In order to make them more at home, Shasha had decided not to shackle the two and gave them free movement, at first Kai objected but then Bastian and Kenshin made an oath to the heavens that they would never attempt to harm Shasha and that they would not make any movements without Shasha's permission, as long as they were his slaves.
Bastian told Shasha quite a bit about his predicament, including the oath he had made to general Moto. Thus Bastian offered Shasha a deal. He and Kenshin would fight on Shasha's behalf during the next Major Gladiator tournament, gaining Shasha money and fame. If they went undefeated, then they would receive their freedom.
Even if they were to lose, Shasha would still help Bastian with his matter involving General Moto. Shasha easily agreed and even made an oath to the heavens to guarantee Bastian and Kenshin.
Bastian was astute; he noticed that although the other servants were not special, Kai's cultivation was so high he could not even quantify it! Bastian estimated that Kai was not in the Foundation Realm anymore. If Shasha was able to order around such an incredible servant, then his family was clearly quiet powerful. Escaping from Kai was impossible, thus Bastian had to resort to such measures.
Bastian also learned that Shasha lived with a younger sister who was at a cultivation academy. Apparently she was very talented, so she spent most of her time training and was rarely at home. That was the only information Bastian and Kai were allowed to know about the family. Even their last name was a mystery.
They were not native to Yani City, and were only known as the Shasha family.
They held quite the status, due to Kai's presence and Shasha's sister, who had a lot of suitors. Yet they were financially in dire straits. A lot of their money went to paying for their young mistress' education, and Shasha was not thrifty, leading to their current situation.
Apparently they were given a monthly allowance by their parents but that was as much as Bastian could learn.
After a few days, Bastian was finally given access to the area he had wanted to visit. They were staying in a mansion, although it was not incredibly luxurious, it was still quite nice.
Bastian walked down a hallway, and arrived in front of a large double door with a book insignia at the front. He had finally arrived at what would be his main home for the next few months; he had arrived at the library!
In a courtyard within the mansion, Kenshin sat in the seiza position in front of a tree. The grass and most of the greenery were wet, for the night before it had been raining. Sparkling drops of water drenched the place around Kenshin, from the grass below him to the leaves above him. Kenshin was physically blind, but he saw far more than others.Two sheathed katanas were placed on each side as Kenshin sat. He had his eyes closed and was extremely serene. Barely a single cell in his body seemed to be moving if one looked from the side. Even Kenshin's breathe was so restrained that nature would call his own very existence into question were it sentient.After spending a while in this state, he moved. He was neither fast nor slow. He did not open his eyes either. He simply unsheathed both swords and held them both in his hands. He then used one to hit a tree, using the side of the blade. This seemingly subtle and soundless action caused the tree in front of Kenshin to shake vigorously.
After spending some time getting Bastian to calm down, Kenshin got Bastian to explain his theory.Normally, when one casts a spell, one uses a catalyst, either a chant, a wand, hand seals,a magic circle or a rune. A wand was made from special materials that conducted World Energy. A rune was a mark designed using Soul Force and etched onto objects. A magic circle was a large scale rune for spells that required a lot of Soul Force. Hand seals were signs made using hands to link up pathways.Bastian's idea was actually quite simple. His method was to use all of the above!"All of the methods combined? How are you going to do that?" Kenshin questioned.He knew quite well that some methods could be used in combination. For example, one could use chants and hand seals together to improve the spell's power or rate of casting.All of the methods combined? He had never heard of such a thing. Casting was done in a specific language. Rather than a language, it could be more correct to call them
It did not take a genius to know what Bastian was hinting at, and Kenshin was far from being a fool.Wind magic on the Sovereign Continent did exist but it was something that was not fully understood. Magic was similar to science in that, it involved studying nature but compared to the knowledge earth had accumulated, the knowledge this world had on the concept of wind, or to be more precise air, was rudimentary at best.Mages needed research to understand what they were looking at to create a spell but once the spell itself was created; there was no need for that knowledge to be passed on. All one needed to perform the spell was to follow the preset instructions. This led to many mages not truly understanding the limits of their own abilities.Bastian wanted to not only avoid this but he wanted to take full advantage of the knowledge he had. To Bastian, knowledge was power. In this particular case, Bastian was taking advantage of his knowledge involving pressure.Air pressure in the
In a forest, a young woman was crouching over a corpse. This was the corpse of a middle aged man in leather armor. The man had been killed only a few moments ago and a hole was visible on his throat, blood was still trickling from the wound as the young woman searched frantically around the man's body."Finally!" exclaimed the young woman, as she held up a little green stone in her hand. She marveled at the seemingly ordinary stone, as if it was a diamond of immense value."Ruka, what are you doing? You're taking too much time on this corpse. We already have new targets." The young woman looked back and saw a dark skinned man approach her. He had a stern look of reproach on his face and was walking hurriedly."Oh, sorry Mark, tell me. Where is this new target?" said Ruka as she moved her attention away from the corpse. Mark, the dark skinned man, pointed at a certain direction and said "A few kilometers in that direction. I fear another group has already found our target. We need to m
Bastian had failed to notice Mark's fire attribute. This was quite unexpected for him.Ever since he got e-vision, Bastian had never noticed another cultivator who had two or more elemental attributes. Bastian used himself as a reference; he constantly had fire and water attribute World Energy around him. Thus, he assumed that other cultivators were the same.Kenshin did nothing and merely observed the situation, staying true to his word. Although Bastian was puzzled, he was still focused. Martial Techniques, especially ones with a long range attack, took a long time to prepare.Bastian wanted to use that time wisely. He ran toward Mark at the fastest speed he could muster. He had previously fought without putting his Dao knowledge into his straight forward movements. He had only input that knowledge into his attack movements. After getting used to it, he tried applying the knowledge to his straight forward movements.Be it in movement or in attacking, application of the Dao was an od
The Elite Gladiator League, this was the purpose of Kenshin and Bastian's fortnight of training. According to Kai, this was a tournament were the greatest fighters from all over Yani City came to show off their prowess.Yani City was a C rank city. Even amongst other C rank cities, it was quite large. It was a city where nobles of other nations often came to enjoy themselves and let go. One could even say it was one large resort.The main attraction in the city however was the Elite Gladiator League. It was hosted by the Mayor of the city, to entertain nobles and rich tourists. To qualify for the event, gladiators would have to win certain normal events, for example the Twin Rumble event Bastian was in, and then enter the qualifying rounds for the League.The tournament itself had two sides, the qualifying tournament and the main League itself. The qualifying tournament was quite a simple process, one that had been used for as long as most could remember.T
Mark's eyes were filled with greed as he saw Kenshin's pouch. He had no doubt that it was filled with the green pebbles necessary for qualification. Judging from the size and the noise coming from the pouch, whoever had that pouch by the time the competition was over would undoubtedly be qualified.The competition lasted for only a day, so time was of the essence. Mark saw that Kenshin was incredibly skilled, so he decided not to act rashly. He simply observed, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Ruka knew not to move without Mark's go ahead, and she was quite content looking at Bastian."Kenshin! For the last time! Tell me the key chant now! I'm about to die here!" shouted Bastian as he frantically dodged attacks left and right. Kenshin did what he does best, remain quiet. Bastian wanted to attack Kenshin right now, but he knew that would be a futile endeavor.This difficult situation all started this morning. The previous evening Bastian had gone to slee
Bastian found no joy in killing, yet it did not disturb him in the slightest. He did not see himself as a morally upright person, and this type of mentality had cemented itself in his mind the longer he stayed in the Sovereign Continent.He had no qualms with killing anyone who got in his way, thus all the warriors in front of him were walking corpses as far as he was concerned. To Bastian, mercy to one's enemy was cruelty to one's self, especially when the enemy killed for a living.One of Kenshin's conditions in the past was that Bastian should not kill anyone, which made Bastian's task significantly harder. Most people would assume that killing was harder than just fighting, but when there is a significant gap in strength between you and your opponents, it's much more difficult to fight a group of people weaker without causing injury. Not to mention Bastian's mind had experience that his body was unaccustomed to.So when Kenshin lifted the restriction on kill