12 The Wind Blows to the East.

Slash!

Slash!

A katana sliced through the air at breakneck speed, becoming a thin blurr to the untrained eye. It first moved extremely slowly at snail's pace before picking up speed and making the air sing and then slowing down again.

Wielding this Katana was a 6ft slender young man. His rock like muscles were compressed and hidden beneath his thin upper kimono with only his light brown pecks showing. His black upper kimono his a tight black skin tight warriors cloth like adventurers in an mmorpg. He wore skinny white jeans with black splash patterns and cloth slippers. His silvery pupils were closed in a stance waiting for the right moment.

Shing!_

His silvery hair strands rustled as he swung without opening his eyes. To the average onlooker he was slashing extremely slow but in actuality he was slashing 5 times per second.

V was unsatisfied with this development and kept trying to go faster and slower at the same time. Naturally pursuing one aspect was better but he wanted both, no, all three: Slowness, Speed, Stagnation. He was a novice user of time so he knew.

Slash!

It's possible.

Slash!

To attain all three.

Slash!

Fast, Slow and Still

Slash!

Only then.

Then and only then could he quell this feeling of inadequacy. A feeling that he wasn't living up to his full potential and utilizing all his techniques.

"I need to fight but students won't due and people have varying strengths. I need something with the same average strength as me or a little greater but not too great. The only thing that meets the requirements..."

Inclining his head to the midday sun and the stars seemingly visible in the daylight, he whispered,"...are beasts. A pack of beasts to be exact."

Verathragna sheathed his katana and rested it on his shoulder, looking within the small wooden residence every new student was issued.

Thinking of this, he smiled. How cunning they are. Putting the new students in such inferior and unsanitary residences, they motivated them to grow stronger to go to the academy dorms. Only the top 100 among the 1000 new students could live in there for the remainder of the year. All geniuses with no exception who had just enrolled must pass through this hurdle. Their living conditions would spur them on to practice harder.

"You can't be practicing every moment though, hmm, I should go get a drink."

V leaned against Ren's cottage door and spoke with his eyes half closed," Taking a break. You coming?"

Rattling sounds came from inside the one room abomination of a house. A head poked out," Yes I'm coming."

The two began walking to the Academy gates to leave the grounds and head to the city.

"Hey boss"

"?"

"What exactly did you mean by shield only Astral souls?"

Hearing his question, V smiled," I see you are starting to get it." Their footsteps clattered on the stone floor heading to the entrance/exit.

"You don't have to choose shields per say. Perspective is key in life. Evil to some might be Good to others, Pain might be Pleasure and.... A shield depends on the perspective of the user , anyways....loosen up."

V put his arm around his Ren's shoulder as he laughed," You're so grumpy, try to enjoy life. If you look for ugliness you'll find it likewise if you look for happiness you'll find it, just takes a little searching is all."

Ren gave a forced smile. His family was extinguished before his eyes and he wanted revenge as bad as air for breathing so it was hard to enjoy life but he knew better than to defy his boss as he'd be forced to try anyway as such he was willing to change but his wish for revenge would remain. What he did till then is his own business as well.

V's eyes suddenly narrowed to the sides.

"Oi, you're that new student with the astral soul of the 3rd heavenly layer right."

Six new students surrounded the two of them. With a student bearing a rat like face in the lead.

V still was holding on to Ren when he sighed mentally- it was only a matter of time, I suppose- Talent is sure to attract attention, desire, jealousy, envy and even wrath for insecure little teenagers.

V laughed as he said to Ren, " Quite the ugly bunch wouldn't you say."

"Indeed"

Rat face seemed offended by V's quiet words. Taking it as cowardice and not knowing that was V's usual tone, he roared," What was that!!!"

V removed his arms from around Ren and gave him a pat. Naturally, that was an 'All yours' pat.

"If you have something to say, say it. You're wasting our time"

Ren took a step forward and questioned. The average new student was at the peak of the Body Refinement realm or entry level Arterial Circulation. Way out of his current league but that didn't mean he would endure humiliation or cower, it just meant he'd take a beating but so what. It wasn't the end of the world.

"Tch. You're quite arrogant aren't you. Think you're better than us. Taste my Rapid Snake fist."

Ren took a defensive stance and a wood metal shield materialized.

Bam.

Bam.

Bam.

Rat face struck the shield repeatedly seeing Ren suffering an aftershock of pain, he continued but to his dismay, even after channeling all his strength and utilizing his Raptor Snake Astral soul, Ren hadn't moved an inch.

"Tch. How boring so the genius was a turtle huh."

Getting nowhere rat face taunted Ren. With the surrounding students joining in as well. V walked up to Ren and tapped him on his shoulder," Well done."

Ren looked at him with a sad gaze," I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything." To which V laughed,

"If you wielded another weapon perhaps, but you wield a shield. You endured and defended not moving a single step. As a shield bearer, you won."

Ren's eyes suddenly glowed remembering some distant words," Right, I'm a shield. The greatest shield."

V continued," Remember I'm the one who attacks.... well no, I'm not but we haven't got any other members, no matter all will come in due time. I can feel it."

V turned to the Six students," still here? "

Hearing the shooing tone in his voice the students were incensed,

"Look at this prick"

"Who does he think he is"

"I think , he has a beating coming his way"

V glanced at them with narrowed eyes and a playful smile," Huh?" he said softly.

The six students glanced at each other and prepared to move when," Wait. He.... Looks familiar."

One of them suddenly uttered.

"What are you talking about Ball fist."

They stopped to hear out their companions. They obviously knew each other pretty well and even had nicknames for one another. Ball fist pointed at V, "Just look, silver hair and pupils he couldn't be...."

Ball fist's words echoed in their brains and scoured through their memories of the past few days, They all looked at each other in cold sweat. One name on the tip of all their tongues.

Gulp.

They looked at V. Looked back at each other. Their faces grew increasingly twisted. And they all slowly backed away,

"The Tormentor!!... The one who brutally played with That senior and tormented him for nine days and nine nights before dumping him in the Central pool!!!"

V's mouth twitched- When did he do all of that, Well he did but not to that extent- Ren was puzzled as well.

"Wait brothers, it might not be true. It's probably a lie. Let's..."

Rat face was startled at first but he regained his bearings. But, his brothers were already running and shouted back at him, " Sure, why don't you confirm it. I saw that senior getting carried away but I didn't get a good look. You can come back and tell us if it's all a farce later!!!!"

Rat face turned to look at V and sure enough, he gave off a monster like vibe, he gulped and shouted," Wait for me you bastards!"

He sprinted off in a heartbeat before and turned to shout back at V, "Just you wait evil tormentor, word has it Ortus is recovering and dead set on dealing with you. You also did that to the star of the one of nine clans, surely you'll pay!"

With that he continued running as far as his two feet could move, What a joke, Rumour has it Ortus was plain tortured, although he looked down on Verathragna, that still wasn't something an ordinary person could do, jump one and half realms!! Hell if they're taking the chance.

"..."

V was speechless before chuckling and dragging Ren up- Kids, Right- V thought of them as nothing more than impulsive youth. There was no killing intent within their hearts so he didn't think much of it. He placed his arm around Ren again as they walked, "Shall we?"

******

Capital of Cirrus.

Firefly Restaurant.

Lively cheers, drinks, dancing, laughter, drinks, food and a festive air decorated the restaurant.

Butterbelly Lobster with sauce.

Braised pork chops and lamb.

Roasted Honey Garlic Chicken.

Seafood palate tower with green salt.

A variety of mouth watering dishes were laid out on a table before Ren and V.

V was already drinking wine and Ren was starry eyed with the food, bitting a lobster claw while shedding tears of joy in an exaggerated manner, like each food item had a spotlight on them and enticed him with their performance.

"Delishw"

He bit each piece like it was a treasure that was worthy of treasuring. One bite at a time, five seconds of enjoyment and the occasional avarice where he ate whole dishes in mere seconds and relished them after.

V smiled with eyes at the scene and ate a few shrimps with his drink. Letting the conversations enter his ears, whilst tapping on the table in a tranquil manner.

"Hey, have you heard. A small clan was robbed in the outskirts of our country. They kicked up a fuss everywhere about their herbs and a mere 13 yuan meteor stones."

"Haha, what'd you expect small clans are pretty poor and can't afford much, that was their lifeline."

"I heard that the genius of....."

Ah. V made mental acknowledgement of those who he had robbed hearing the chatter. He'd totally forgotten about them. Looks like they were uprooting every tree looking for him. They couldn't do much in the capital though. He just ignored the genius talk. It didn't matter in the long run. He was totally uninterested.

"Mortal kids my age have had several girlfriends by now right and those slightly less fortunate have a tyrannical childhood sweetheart or an ugly face so they have to woo with personality. Hm"

Naturally , he was feeling bored. Then, a spark flashed in his mind.

"Come on now , Ren. Does that delicious food deserve such dry expression and one syllable words. You should show your profound."

Shattering noises and thunderclaps went off in Ren's head. He grew increasingly solemn and grasped his face while clenching his teeth," Yes, how ignorant I was, these delicious dishes deserve more appreciation!!!!"

Hearing his declaration, a few gazes drifted to their table to find a handsome brown haired young man, touching his chest in his heart area and solemnly looking up while holding a lobster leg in his hand standing atop the table, a spotlight seemed to form around him," Ahh, How foolish thy was. This lobster leg has taught me the meaning of delicious. Oh! The gods shall cry and devils weep before such sorrow! Oh great lobster leg be eaten by thine unworthy mouth, Oh! Excelsior!!!!"

"..."

If a few gazes were on him before, then all were on him now. While, his leader sat in his chair holding his stomach while laughing profoundly. "Great, that's it..hahaha" V laughed from his heart watching Ren treat the food as godly treasure.

"..."

"He's not quite right in the head is he."

"But he's quite the funny fellow."

"Yes, indeed...hahaha"

The crowd couldn't help but question his sanity and laugh at his antics. "Hey, waiter, get some music for me. And also, drinks on us." V held up his cup and called out, with his slow words spoken with his sexy base and charming accent. The waiter nodded and soon drinks were rolling out to the joy of many.

Soon laughter, music, dancing, singing transformed the festive air in a joyous celebration, of what you ask? well nothing. Every one is stressed when it comes down to it. Now, all these stressed individuals let out their inner lunatics and had fun. They made so much noise, the people on the streets heard and some laughed and left while others joined the drinking, half naked lunatics playing tug of war.

The party was well into its highlights when a bad apple jumped. As the saying goes all good things must come to an end. An arrogant young master barged in with his lackeys.

"Look at this, these weak mortal fools and low level futureless old men are having the time of their lives while I'm in a terribly bad mood. Hahaha.....Good, Very Good, you all are outstanding!"

A young teenager wearing an embroidered gown and astral high end beast skin, came barging in. He'd most likely heard then from outside and was in a bad mood. He was the type who wanted no one to be happy if he was unhappy, a hopelessly spoiled child.

Silence descended on the lively bar. Upon recognizing who he was they were even more afraid. The young man smiled maliciously upon seeing their fearful gazes but a figure was turned his back to him!

The insolence!!!

He was shaking in anger when his lackeys read the mood and went over to give that person a taste of fair.

"Hey you, you have no idea who you just....ah"

It was a slow reaction but the lackey who reached out to Verathragna realized his hand wasn't there anymore. When blood began to splurt, he clenched his remaining parts and screamed,"Aowgrrrrhhhhhhhaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!"

Like A injured psychotic animal, he howled to the Sky.