Chapter 0069 - Lets talk inside

"Okay, Lei.. you can let go now. Master, Father.. what are all of you doing out here?" Wu Hai approached the group below and though they felt no enmity with the being that was descending down from the sky to meet with them, they still felt fear. An Elemental was something no one wanted to be in the way of. He saw the way they were looking him over and grinned.

Lei nodded and released Wu Hai from the hug.

"Father?" Zao Ooran was focusing on the details of the beings face when he jumped up and ran over,

Lei's distraction had left everyone feeling that the worst was about to happen.

"Wu Hai? Is that really you? What happened?" By this time, everyone was curious. 'Wu Hai is an Elemental now? And what are 3 Qilin, a Minotaur and Elf doing with him..' Leaving his suspicions aside, he was thrilled to see his Son.

There were too many things to explain, Wu Hai kicked his feet out and landed softly beside the carriage. "There is much to explain, with all the commotion and our chance meeting, I think its better if we talk inside." He finished talking and began to pull the Pagoda from storage, it spun in his palm.

"Inside? We can't all fit in the carriage." Master Jiang was confused and then he saw the Pagoda start to grow. Within a few moments it was reaching into the sky. "So big!" The words could barely be heard but Wu Hai still chuckled a little. 'This Spoiled Disciple, where did he find such a treasure?'

"Bring the carriage inside, we will be safe, I promise." Khan Ni walked to the arched doorway and opened it up with a flick of her wrist.

The door slid up and into the Tower's wall.

Qu was waiting patiently, he saw Wu Hai and immediately started to give the details of what had happened while the group was away. "Master, all sorting has been completed.." He noticed the others and stopped himself. "Oh, we have more guests! Great." Putting a proud face on, he knew it was only a matter of time before more people came along with Wu Hai. 'This kid, he seems to attract a lot of attention no matter where he goes.'

"Qu, This is my Family. Give them each a room on the 3rd floor and see that they all get a chance to bathe." Directing Qu was pretty simple, as subservient as he was, the Tower spirit never back-talked to Wu Hai directly.

"Father, take everyone upstairs and rest, once you've settled we can talk further." Wu Hai had plenty of questions himself but with their recent escape from the Sinkhole, gaining distance from it was a priority.

With little to no hesitation, Qu pointed to the main stairwell and started to show everyone that had arrived the way to their rooms.

The Suns were almost set and it was time to eat.

Wu Hai's voice rang out loud enough for everyone to hear as they closed the door. Most of them were on their way into their rooms but they could hear him clearly from several floors away. "Okay.. drop your stuff off when you get to a room, clean up and then come meet me in the lobby." After speaking, he put the token back into his spacial ring.

The Carriage ride was long and everyone truly needed a reprieve.

"It was good fortune and a lot of luck that the groups had found each other, had we missed Wu Hai in the darkness.." Master Jiang shuttered when he thought about the consequences of missing such an opportunity to reunite. They might have ended up dead or never found each other at all.

'Its a strange twist of fate' Master Jiang shook his head as he stared at the interior of the pagoda, magic runes and spellwork was everywhere. 'Truly a Sacred Treasure!'

"Wu Hai, these people are your family?" The Twins approached and Yu was the first to ask.

"Yes, My entire family seems to have grown as well. I noticed that my mother is pregnant, and so is Rachael. It seems my family has been busy too. Lei flew pretty high and very fast, did you see how she dominated Darkwing with just her aura." Nodding along as Wu Hai spoke, the twins were in agreement.

"What to expect from an entire family of Zao, formidable." Khan Ni chimed in briefly before adjourning to her own room. 'The older brother seems capable.'

"Enough for now, we'll all talk when everyone's cleaned up." Wu Hai sat down and started making some food.

Everyone finally returned after they were looking around and their emotions had settled down, looks of astonishment covered their faces.

The decorations near the library were mystical and profound, many of them were confused about what the Tower's true purpose was, the inside of the Tower seemed like it was built as a war fortress or a memorial and then a palace in others. Each time they saw new bits of architecture, it left them wondering about what the rest of the floors look like.

"I have lots of questions and speculation won't help. First, tell me, what happened that brought all of you out here?" Wu Hai asked Master Jiang and his Father, Zhan stood eagerly by the side listening.

Looks of sadness and terror grew among the trio before Master Jiang finally spoke up.

'Seems like it was hard on them all.' Wu Hai saw the pause in Master Jiang's response, he knew instinctively that something horrible had happened.

Explaining what had happened, Master Jiang left out very few details. There was no use hiding anything from Wu Hai, his group or anyone among them.

Once Master Jiang had finished telling him the tale, Wu Hai kept inquiring, "So, the King tried to assassinate you? Was he also responsible for my Father's incident?"

"Yes, we believe it is possible." Master Jiang nodded in confirmation.

Wu Hai slammed his fist on the table after hearing it, he kept his mouth shut and Old Man Jiang continued. "I would want more details but I've never needed less of a reason to trample him, we were simply caught unprepared and surrounded. The attack and destruction of our homes, the Tea Shop and the deaths of many in the Capital that came with Zhan." Pausing for a moment he looked up at Wu Hai again, "We must bide our time. Now, we've explained. Its your turn young Disciple."

"I guess I should start with these." Wu Hai pulled out the dice and sat them gently on the table. "Don't touch any of them but look well and take note of them." Swiftly putting them away before someone was tempted to fiddle with the dice, he started to talk about how he had met the Twins after leaving for his journey. Wu Hai told him lots of things about Darkwing's origins and Khan Ni.

The stories filled the night, Wu Hai talked about getting lost underground, the tower, and even about Undead caverns they had gotten almost buried alive in the first time. "Getting out of the Minaur City wasn't fun, they attacked us. All in all, it was pretty annoying having to deal with people like that." Wu Hai shrugged feeling unaccomplished.

Ooran put his hand up to change the conversation, "So.. This tower is yours? Amazing.. MY SON IS AMAZING!" Drinking had made Ooran a little loose but his pride was swelling.

"Now that you have us with you. Will you be taking us with along on your adventure or depositing us somewhere safe?" Master Jiang asked decisively.

"We can figure that out when it comes to it, for now just remain in the Tower." Wu Hai dismissed the discussion. He was about to speak again when Zhan interrupted him.

"I got Married, well.. we're also having a Child." Zhan puffed his chest out, he had been the first to adventure, and the first to make his childhood dreams a reality, sort of.

"Sorry, I am indeed happy for you. It is only that, well, I know that you are having twins and Father, you're.. well.. hehe.. you'll be surprised." Zao Wu Hai looked at his father and laughed a little bit.

Zhan didn't know what to say and choked on his words.

The Black-flame Firewolf laid down with Lei after she had fallen asleep in her room, the Girls came down before hearing Wu Hai's comment and their arrival stopped him before he say more.

Ooran didn't know what they were discussing or why he had stopped talking but he was now on guard, neither of them told him. "What?" It was a rhetorical statement but Ooran knew it was his son's plotting against him secretly. Shrugging, he laughed it off.

"I've made food, please eat it before it get cold. In the morning we'll discuss plans for the future.", Wu Hai stood his ground and sent some plates over to his Mother and Rachael. Pulling some glasses from storage Qu poured everyone a drink.

"To Family, Adventure, Friends, and Life... Cheers!" Drinking his cup of wine in one go Wu Hai pulled his tower emblem from his storage and teleported to his room to pass out.

It had been an exhausting day and a very long night. He didn't even get to search all the shops in Minaur City before all the chaos. Still, he was happy having to have his family back.

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Morning came quickly and all eyes were on Wu Hai when he portaled back to the lobby. "QU!"

Summoning the Tower Spirit, Wu Hai handed him a pile of rings filled with items from the group's underground excavations, "Please sort these the same as last time, there is no rush."

After passing the rings, he called for his Brother. "Zhan. Over here.. Please." Wu Hai sighed a little bit, the looked at his brother. "Eat this."

A purple gemstone floated over, Zao Zhan looked at his brother like he was crazy.

"I can't eat this.. its a gem." Zhan replied quickly, fumbled with it in his hands and tossed it back.

"Just swallow it.." Wu Hai was impatient, he grabbed Zhan's hand and put the crystal in his possession directly.

"Y-You." Picking the gemstone up, Zhan looked at it and saw all sorts of motes rushing around in it. Multiple shades of purple specs were floating around within the crystalline structure.

"Are you sure you want me to swallow this?" Again asking, Wu Hai was about to take it away and pass it to his father when Zhan stuffed it into his mouth and swallowed a mouthful of wine.

"There, happy?" Looking back at Wu Hai, Zhan didn't know why he had to eat it and then, moments later, like a rushing tide, he could feel energy pulsing around him. "What did you make me eat?" Confused he blurted out a simple question.

"Lightning Crystal. That small chunk will give your body the ability to produce electricity and pull energy from your surroundings, it was the best in the Collection." Waving his hand again, Wu Hai pulled out all of the Gygax. "Now, before you get stuck on details, pick this one up and toss it back towards me like rolling a ball." Wu Hai gave out a complicated instruction for a simple question.

The cubes sat on the table, Zhan was still playing with his energy, he could feel a zapping sensation on his fingertips and his entire body grow lighter. "Huh? Yeah.. okay. Sure, why not. Whoa!" Releasing the cube, his ass landed squarely on the bench again.

When the Die came to a stop, it was on the Ice Attribute.

The zapping sensation was replaced with a frosty aura across his fingertips. "Can you be any less crazy? What is happening here?" Zhan was in disarray, he couldn't understand his brother any longer. 'What the hell is this feeling?' "What did you do to me?"

Earlier, Wu Hai had told Zhan about the Twins and how they had transformed but it was all too fantastic for him, for anyone to have accomplished easily. 'What if the Armies had this at their disposal?' Zhan had to ask, "Is this change permanent?"

"Yes, unless you'd rather have another ability. One ability is enough for most people. But if you don't like Ice, you can roll for one of the others." Wu Hai was acting cool but he couldn't help his laughter over the question and fell off his chair with the Glass of Wine in his hand.

"BWAHAHAHA! Okay, we've all caught up. Now what?" Master Jiang looked at Zhan then at everyone else.

"You and everyone can stay in here. When the Pagoda shrinks, so do its contents, including you all." Qu popped out of no where and explained. "Master, the items are sorted. Here is a detailed list."

Qu passed it over, Wu Hai looked before nodding and putting it away, there was be plenty of time to read while flying.

"I see, bring me the Cup Darkwing picked up and the pile of crystals. Oh.. and thank you Qu." If it wasn't for Qu doing so much, the amount of time the group spent just going through the loot they would find could take days, weeks, even years to sort out. His treasures could very well spoil while they rummaged through it. "Oh yes.. I wanted to ask you, Master Jiang. Did you bring your books? I have a good number in the library if you wanted to check through them. However, I wanted to ask to see your book on the Crusher again, I hope you managed to bring it along."

"A Cup? What's the Cup for?" Ooran looked at the small, dark metal and crystalline cup. It didn't look all too impressive but it was made from crystal and had been laced with extremely rare minerals. Being made from a rare material was one thing but the cup was carved from a single piece of crystal and gave off a strange feeling when it was being held.

"I just have this feeling.. Anyway, pass it over, I want to check out something. The aura that cup gives, it makes me feel like this is what it was for.. I can't explain it." Wu Hai said softly.

"Feeling? Master Jiang, what is my brother talking about?" Zhan was riddled with questions of his own. His question didn't seem like it would be answered.

"I change my power with the Dice, just like you just experienced. However, I really don't want to lose the abilities I have, the odds are just too low to get them again and it's important to me. However, you, Zhan, are just starting out and are unattached to your abilities. You wouldn't mind being my Guinea Pig would you?" Trying to coax his Brother into being a lab rat was easier than Wu Hai thought.

"Don't mind if I do!" Zhan was a rival, first and foremost. Grabbing the Cup with Gusto and tossing the Wooden Cube inside, Zhan shook the cup and tossed the Die out. "Like this right?"

"Exactly!" Wu Hai was shocked at Zhan's enthusiasm. 'That's not a bad technique, I should use that.'

The Die landed on the Fire symbol and the feeling of cold that seeped into his bones immediately vanished from Zhan's body. The tips of his fingers grew flames and so did his fists. Zhan's boots melted and his feet were also on fire.

"Shit! MY BOOTS!" Zhan tried to kick them off, but it had only made things worse. "Maybe I should re-roll." The boots were smoking in the corner and the rancid smell of burnt leather and sweat filled the Lobby.

Grabbing the Cup and Die. Zhan threw again and stopped on Water. "Okay, Enough with the changing." 'Obviously, this is going to take some getting use to..'

"Okay, I know you want to stop but I have another request because I never get these types of chances." Pulling out the Ability Cube, he placed it into his brothers hands. "Roll just this cube. Use the Cup." Wu Hai wanted to know if he could use a single gygax independently. "This die will only change the way your ability will begin to manifest itself. If it works, I want you to roll until you get either the Shooting star or Combat Form."

Wu Hai directed his brother on how it would work, hoping he wouldn't shy away from power and risk. The two of them had a rivalry and if they were met with danger, Wu Hai wanted his brother to have lot more power than he currently had.

"After this, go take care of Father." Picking up the cup and ability die, Zhan shook the cup. It landed on Downpour.

Wu Hai had his brother roll it again.

"Yes! Shooting star!! So, what does Shooting Star do?" Zhan was nervous about this method of developing magical power. It was too easy and felt like it was breaking all the rules of the world that he knew.

"Lets go outside, I don't want to damage the interior of the Tower by accident." Wu Hai said some ominous words.

Zhan could understand what he meant, he had melted his boots earlier by accident. He understood that uncontrolled power could be dangerous no matter the type.

Standing near the arched entrance, Wu Hai waited for his Brother to arrive and then looking into the distance he spotted a Jackalope. It was dashing across the grasslands and being chased by a burrowing creature. "Don't worry about accuracy, pull your bowstring and visualize an arrow."

"Visualize?" Zhan rolled his eyes but there was something in the back of his mind telling him to try.

"It's important to visualize the arrow for this attempt, don't worry about aiming but keep your eyes on that Jackalope in the distance. When you've finally got your bearing, I want you to shoot it in the head. That's where lesser undead creatures are the most vulnerable." Wu Hai wanted his brother to succeed, if they were going to go on an adventure anytime in the future, he had to have the power to stand beside each other.

Firing the bow, a streak of blue sped across the grassland like a bolt of lightning in the daylight. The shot knocked one of the antlers from the Jackalope off, it split from the skull and threw it's balance into chaos.

The Jackalope rolled on the ground for a moment before the burrowing creature began dragging it under.

"See, Worth it. I want you to practice until you have something better to do. Qu, when you're done sorting, please take Zhan to the training arena." Wu Hai thought that he had a great idea but Zhan had a different approach.

"Sorry Little Brother, I'm going to use the way the Army taught me. I'm an Elite Archer, tracking targets is going to be my best way to learn to use this ability. Besides, if I learn how to use this power from you only, would it really be my power? Or just one you gave me?" Zao Zhan spoke clearly, to Qu and told him not to worry about it.

Qu knew that it would be strange if the brothers didn't have some sort of odds against each other

Wu Hai loved to compete, no one in the group could say otherwise.

Khan Ni came back down to sit with the girls. Rachael and Calistown were both face down in their meal when she arrived. They smiled and started asking her a bunch of questions about how she had met Wu Hai. Both of them really wanted to take a better look at her ears.

"So pretty..." Both of them lowered their heads, then laughed.

"Well, aren't you all in a good mood today." Genba showed up with Darkwing for breakfast, his mood had lightened a lot after some sleep. "Food!" He rushed up to the table, startling everyone a bit. He was large and as he approached, he noticed the Women were both pregnant.

Genba's demeanor immediately changed, he was instantly respectful and sat at the far end of the table on the floor, it brought him closer to their eye level.

Wu Hai wanted to get back in the air as soon as he was done eating. Everyone was at the table still eating so there was no one to miss his announcement. "I'm going to pack up the Pagoda and put some distance between Minaur City."

No one was really listening, everyone had food in their mouths but Wu Hai walked outside, spread his fingers, shrunk the tower and flew off to the east.

"!YES! This is so much faster!" Screaming through the air, Wu Hai was ecstatic. He had been traveling for a long time but he had never been flying on his own. Before, Darkwing was always with him.

The feeling Wu Hai was experiencing was exhilarating and the plains stretched on for a bit. Keeping his eyes on the horizon, Wu Hai noticed that off to the south, another landscape could be seen, a Desert. He pushed himself in ways he had never attempted.

'The compass keeps telling me to head east? We went to Minaur City and even found my Family. Exactly what does this thing want me to find?' Spinning in a circle really fast to try to confuse the compass, Wu Hai watched it sprang back into place, it was being pulled in one direction. 'Looks like I'm on the correct path.'

Wu Hai put the compass back into his ring and started to fly as fast as he could, it felt like it was the first time he ever fully opened his wings.

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