Branching Paths

Shinji returned by daylight

Lin questions, "You're done? I thought you were gonna ask her to make a team with us."

Shinji waves his hand and says, "She has something important to do. I would have invited her already at the ship if it weren't the case."

Lin nods, "So where to now?"

Shinji replies, "We're splitting up. I cooked up a lot of stew that can last us the day. There are many opportunities that go in both directions from here. The west has cultivation treasures while the east has the planet's dungeon. You'll take your sister there since the monsters are too strong for me and Quad.", he handed Lin a map projector which is the shape of a ball.

Lin checked the ball and pressed a button that projected a map with 7 dots of light.

Shinji explains, "White represents my location, blue represents the location of the device you're holding, yellow represents the device for Dongmei, orange represents the device for Quad, green represents the Hindenburg, purple represents the mushroom mountain, and red represents the dungeon. We will gather at the purple point once were done with our respective tasks."

He gives Lin the machine for Dongmei

Lin replies after thinking about it, "Seems like a good idea. I'll tell Sis Mei.", He then leaves to inform her.

Shinji on the other hand repeated the same information to Quad and the latter came with him to the west, where there was a bog filled with monsters.

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[Author Note: If you haven't known, I made a huge typo in chapter 4 as Lin's weapon is supposed to be a spear. I made a huge mistake but other than that his sword martial art will become a spear martial art without any name and description changes.]

[Author Note: Although it isn't that necessary to include a POV, it is probably ok just to say a POV just for those readers who habitually turn their brains off. And yes, I couldn't find a viable solution to obviously indicate a character's perspective without say [POV: Ex.]]

[POV: Lin von Shiraki]

[PumpKindred] is a rank-4 monster that has the face of a pumpkin and whose body varies from wood, hay, earth, or even grass. They also have weapons that they grew and cut from their pumpkin stem. Their weak spot is their head but a heavy impact may spread its pumpkin seeds that are the key to growing even more of its kindred.

It's rather best to detach its head from its body to turn the monster immobile.

[Autumn Treant] is a rank-5 monster that is part of the 4 seasonal Treants. It's a treant that specialized at speed out of the 4 as it has less healing factor than a [Spring Treant], less attack factor than a [Winter Treant], and less defense than a [Spring Treant]. Although it is less, it still has higher attributes than other monsters in the same rank.

It has a limit to how far it can grow from its trunk but it's best to kill it before it grows to its peak state.

These are the information Shinji's [Imagery Scanner] says as we encounter a group of [PumpKindreds] and 2 [Autumn Treants]. Being the leader, I was given this machine for identification but another reason would be my bad sense of memory of monsters.

"Sis Mei! Can you deal with the [PumpKindreds]?"

Sis nods as I take my spear into a stance. Her sword is enough to cut off all those pumpkin heads from their bodies cleanly.

I dash through the pumpkindred as I arrive at the two treants. Their yellow leaves grow and fall at a rapid rate as they become sharp shurikens of death hurling toward me.

Nothing a couple [Poison Rings: Hog Rings] won't handle. My spear pierces most of the leaves directed at me as I use my movement technique, [Trench Traversing], to dodge the rest.

I apply my weapon qi on my weapon as I swing down on the roots growing out of the treants. My qi transformed using the [16 Poison Pillars Cultivation Technique] destroyed the root's growth rate.

The treants screamed as they flailed their now damaged roots, they kept growing on throwing their leaves at me. They also flailed their branches as I drew near.

I blocked one of the branches and pierced another three. I dodged one and used [Poison Rings: Scorpion Ring] and tore through several other branches. I had made a path to one of the treants.

I drove my weapon qi as I broke its trunk using my spear. The dying treant screamed as the other attacked with its remaining branches. Its ambush wasn't unnoticed.

I swing my weapon behind me, twist it, and destroy the other treant. I turn to Sis Mei. She had already harvested the heads, they were laughing hysterically even without a body...

With controlled strength, I stabbed a hole on top of each of their heads. The laughter died out.

Unfazed, Sis Mei stored them in her ring. I also stored the body of the treants in mine.

We've already killed some monsters like this on our way to the dungeon. They were easy to handle but the real challenge would be the monsters that lie in the dungeon itself.

"Sis Mei, we're approaching the dungeon.", I say as she nods.

Sis looks around finding for an entrance but suddenly a recording starts playing.

"This recording will play if you reached the dungeon. It should be on the earth wall on the side. A punch should open its entrance. My map won't work there anyway so you're on your own", Shinji's voice comes

I knocked the entrance open. Energies, including Qi, were flowing out of it, definitely a dungeon.

"I wonder where Shinji got this information.", I am stunned. To get accurate information like this would need both money and a good source of information.

"I don't know but he has been very helpful to both of us. I'm very grateful to him so I'll surely clear this dungeon.", She says

I smirk, "Oh? Does my reliable sister owe a favor to someone? Actually... when did he help you?"

Sis Mei...blushed? , "It's quite...complicated."

I gave an understanding look. It's ok sis. Shinji I'm counting on you.

Though, Sis Mei gave me a confused look.

We both enter the dungeon.

I feel pumped, "This will be the perfect training material for me to get stronger!"

Sis smiles, "You have a lot to catch up in terms of cultivation and martial art mastery."

I still have a few cards up my sleeve. Sis Mei takes the lead as we take a formation this time. Spear on the back and sword on the front. I can stab at a distance and attack my sister's blind stops...if there is any in the first place.

We're leagues apart in strength so I was being carried in a sense. It didn't stop me from trying to exert my best effort though.

[Artifacts] here I come!

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[POV: Quad Rupees]

Things are going smoothly in our journey. I and Shinji have arrived at the bog.

I could say for certainty that our teamwork is very great! If I attack, Shinji covers my back. If I defend, He takes the chance to get an attack in.

It's like we have already fought together.

As a member of the Rupees Knights, I can say that even if Shinji is weaker in strength and small in stature he makes it up with his experience and variety of magic. He will make a great combatant.

Father always said that although I was strong in my muscle I'm also very talented at making trusted friends. I didn't think of it that much but maybe I wouldn't have met Brother Lin and Shinji without it.

"It should be around here.", Shinji says as he snapped me out of my thoughtful look.

"Should we start searching?", I suggest. Shinji just shakes his head.

My questioning look was answered with a shake of the ground.

The patches of grass gathered and they grew rapidly and twisted together.

Shinji then says, "[Woven Beast], Rank 6, it will keep regrowing even if we cut it down. Aim for the hidden core somewhere.", He also readies a bow.

I run my qi that has been refined by [StalagSpike Cultivation Technique]. Gripping my gauntlets hardly, I use a movement technique, [StoneMite Step], and leave a print on the muddy ground.

Water splashes as the monster roars but it didn't scare me.

[MetaStone Fist Technique: Shatter Fist]

The grass made way as I tore through it like butter. What astonished me though was that instantly they grew back and it would only take a few seconds for them to go back to their original state.

Shinji shouts, "Tear through the inside!"

I instantly went through the gap and used my next technique

[MetaStone Fist: RockFeller Fist]

I punched the muddy and water-filled ground as a shockwave occurred making all the water in my area fly away. The ground shook as the ground beneath me made spikes and attacked anything near me, namely the woven beast that 'ate' me.

As I rampaged through the monster, Shinji kept shooting arrows infused with energies with only qi being the one I recognize.

The wounds he made on the monster healed less than they normally would. I start punching around faster.

Shinji even shot through those stray grass trying to sneak up on me. The beast roared as it can't attack me. It started changing its target to Shinji.

[MetaStone Fist: Trembling Fist]

At a quick speed, my fist made holes wherever it went. I punched in succession and its weak grass was too weak to defend.

Because of the large amount of space, I finally found the core. Before I could take a chance on it though, the monster made a last-ditch effort and lost its form. It fully concentrates on wrapping both me and its core.

But he made a big mistake. Shinji already stopped firing a while ago, he must have already prepared a big attack.

And he didn't disappoint, a flaming arrow came speeding towards us. Unfortunately, the monster's instincts flared and it began wrapping most of its grass around the core.

The arrow flew and burned the grass surrounding me. Shinji knew he couldn't break the monster's defense so he made me, the damage dealer between us, take the monster out.

[MetaStone Fist: Shatter Fist]

The wrapping smashed open as I broke the core. The grass started shriveling and burrowing back to the ground, never to be seen again.

I take a deep breath, "That was intense!"

Shinji chuckles as he says, "Don't take yourself so highly. It's one of the rank 6 monsters with low defense so we got lucky. He could have even strangled you first if it didn't feel threatened by my arrow's existence.

I shrug. I still killed a monster that was higher ranked than me. It's a great achievement in my family.

Shinji then suggests, "I'll take 3 of those fish since this core is part of my share."

I store my share in a ring and gave the rest to him. We got what we came for so we rested for a bit and returned.

We talked more on our way back but still encountered a few monsters. I learned more cooking skills with the help of Shinji so I repaid him with some gauntlet lessons that he learned at a surprisingly fast rate.

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[POV: Dongmei von Shiraki]

Shinji's scanner still worked as we're still able to find information on these monsters.

Brother Lin killed another rank-5. I dealt with the rank-6 monsters and left the rank-5 for him.

[Winter Blizzard: Cold Drop]

My sword qi materialized making its attack path freeze. Killing a rank-6 [BloodPlant Crawler]. It keeps popping out from the ceiling.

Unlike myself, my brother had to exert an effort to kill a rank-5, not to mention a group of them.

He thrusts and unleashes his spear intent. It tears through the rank-5 [BoneWood Puppets] one by one.

Once they were dead, Brother Lin rested for a while. I wonder if Shinji doing alright... I thought about him while I collected the drops of the monsters.

We then continued to the next floor.

"Sis Mei, we arrived at the last floor!", Lin says to me.

This dungeon was composed of 5 layers according to Shinji. the first floor had rank-4 monsters while the second had ranks 4 and 5. the 3rd floor had rank-5 monsters and the 4th floor had ranks 5 and 6. The 5th floor has only rank 6 monsters and a rank 7 boss monster.

Unlike normal monsters, monsters in a dungeon disappear and drop [treasures] and [artifacts] instead. Unfortunately, it drops by chance.

The chance of dropping goes higher the stronger the monster so it is mostly guaranteed to get a drop from the boss monster.

So far we have collected a lot of [Treasures] and a few [Artifacts].

In fact, there were enough treasures to help Lin break through to the middle of rank 4.

Because of his low cultivation, we will have to slow down on our conquest as he will be the one fighting individual rank-6 monsters on his own.

Although Brother Lin thinks it is torturous, my training plan is foolproof. I am a rank-7 after all so his safety is guaranteed even in a hoard of rank 6 monsters. This is also why it gets harder to fight across ranks in higher-level cultivation.

"ROOOOAR"

Hmm, a beast monster this time. The ground around it started growing vines of thorns. A rank-6 [Epine Ape].

Lin readied himself and runs his spear qi. His spear intent also flares as he runs and dodges the thorns that grow on the ground. The thorns pounce at him but he gets away every time.

Once Lin got closer, a fist covered in thorns when flying straight to his face. Lin knew he couldn't fight it head-on so he sidestepped and got on the ape's arm. He was targeting the monster's eyes.

Of course, the monster didn't let him as more vines with thorns on them latched and covered the ape's head like a helmet.

Immediately the ape roared and a flurry of projectiles detached from the spiked helmet and went after Brother Lin.

Lin blocks the attacks with his spear infused with his qi. Water and Poison do come hand in hand since they both act as defense and offense. His qi was already developed by several water techniques. His only leverage for attacks was his spear qi and spear intent.

Once Lin landed on the ground, he continues his onslaught against the ape. He stabs on the ape's heels and got it to kneel on the ground.

The ape roars in pain as it flails its torn covered arms around. Lin took the opportunity to run up its back and stabs it in the nape.

[Poison Rings: Hornet Ring]

Any down goes that screeching ape.

Lin got down and breathed heavily. His hands were bruised because of the strong pressure of the thorns that went at him. Even his mind was buzzing because of his loud cries.

"We'll take a break and move on to the next one! I'm sure you'll kill the next one much easier", I encourage him.

Lin looks at me horrified, "A-are you sure?"

I smile, "Come on! It's just the start!"

He sighs as he lays down at looks at his hand, "Well, I'm still weak so I'll try to keep up."

That's the brother I know. He never gives up.

I also didn't want to give up. I almost broke down but Shinji helped.

With Shinji, I think I could do anything. Anything. All For Him.

"Uhhh, sis? what are you giggling there for?", Lin asks

I say, "It's nothing, I just thought of something amusing."

He nods back and took out a Qi Cluster and absorbs its Qi.

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[POV: Sirena Brise]

Do plants have thoughts? No, but monsters do. Even plant-based.

I ran through the location without getting interrupted. I stayed away from a lot of monsters using this power.

It is inevitable to encounter a few monsters here and there due to their large amount of numbers but being the daughter of a Magic Counsilman.

I finally arrived at the spaceship and directly headed to the headmaster's office.

I was greeted with the sight of Headmaster Hideo stuck on the wall as Ms. Agatha sat on a chair. There was also a middle-aged man laughing beside her.

Ms. Agatha turned to me, "Hm? Aren't you Sirena Brise? What are you doing here?"

The middle-aged man stops laughing and looks at me, "You mean the transfer student?"

I reply to Ms. Agatha, "I have to report to the headmaster of something important."

"What would the problem be, Student Sirena?", I shifted my view as I instantly saw the headmaster back in his seat. The wall was even fixed like it never broke before.

Ignoring the incident, I inform, "I got information that the Kagai-sha is lying in wait and will attack both the students and teachers."

Ms. Agatha stands up immediately, "WHAT?!"

The headmaster narrows his eyes as the middle-aged man frowns.

The headmaster asks, "Can you say that again?"

I repeated the information.

Both the headmaster and Ms. Agatha flare their raging mana.

The middle-aged man looked at the two enraged figures ask turns back to me.

"I'm assuming that the information is true so I'll have to ask. Where did you get that information from?", he asks

He flared his Qi on me as he materialized a [Vision]. It was either to intimidate me into telling the truth, or to force me to only tell truths.

"My classmate Shinji told me this. He is a reliable source of information."

The man's frown became deeper as his brows scrunched.

"Do you really believe him? Don't you even know he comes from one of the households that betrayed our empire?!", He asked me.

"I trust him with my life.", I say.

The man looks at headmaster Hideo, "What do you think headmaster. Can we actually believe these students?"

The headmaster thought about it and says, "I can only trust this information to an extent. We will dispatch all the teachers we have with us right now across the planet to watch on the students."

I sigh in relief. It worked to an extent.

The headmaster looks at me, "Do know this Sirena Brise. Even if this was your way of fun, I won't let you off so easily if this turned out to be fake. The Kagai-sha isn't something to joke about."

He then orders, "Agatha, Ambrosio, inform the instructors. Student Sirena, you may go now. Please bring back Student Shinji."

We nodded and left the headmaster's office.

Ms. Agatha looked at me for a while and went on her way.

Ambrosio says, "Kagai-sha, to think they would be so bold. You have to ready yourself if what you said is true."

I nod and we go our separate ways. I couldn't even read their minds...

It worked so for now I'll go back and inform Shinji that the plan worked. I remember that he went to the mushroom hill so I'll probably find him there.

Did I do my job well, Shinji? I miss you already. It feels even longer than the 2 months you were away. How much time have you spent with Dongmei? Will you thank me? What will you reward me?

I want to see you.