Chapter – 158 - Revealing Secrets

It was only the next day, when He, Yaoi and Ranaba were leaving the Core City with the still unconscious Daogi, that they received the surprise attack - that all the three kids had planned on accompanying them on the mercenary mission to Void River!

He and Yaoi looked very surprised and unconvinced. Ranaba was more calm, and seemed to be in deep thoughts. Finally he spoke up.

"It is going to be a very dangerous mission. Void River is a very unpredictable place. Anything can happen at any time. Even in a large group, it will be difficult for us to take care of you at all times."

Rihanna glanced at Artreya and Ye Luo. The latter spoke up.

"I will be informing my Master once we return to my Sect. He will help me in making the necessary preparations. They will stay on in Falanderie City in the meanwhile and wait for our return. Artreya will buy all the necessary materials for the journey during this time. We will try our best to pull our weight so that we do not become a burden on you."

"We are not scared of you becoming a burden. We are worried that this little girl is a commoner. If she falls into one of the pits in Void River, she might die or be crippled before we can save her."

Rihanna looked at the three Uncles, then sighed inwardly.

"Why don't we first move to Falanderie City and get a couple of rooms in an Inn. It would be better if talk there."

Uncle He and Yaoi still looked disturbed by this news. Uncle Ranaba gave Rihanna a deep look, as if trying to read something. Then he nodded, turning towards the teleportation portal.

Coming back to Falanderie City, they selected the same Inn they had selected before. After booking the rooms for the seven of them, Ye Luo left for the Ye Family Branch at Falanderie City to inform them of his leaving the Core City. All entries and exits to the Core City were stringently maintained at the Falanderie City Clan Branches.

They gave the larger cottage to the Uncles since they would need a separate room for Uncle Daogi who was still unconscious. Rihanna and Artreya moved into the smaller cottage. After freshening up, Artreya went over to the main lobby of the Inn to order food. Then the five of them gathered in the larger cottage.

Every cottage had one central common space, with two or three rooms surrounding it. The common space had two large couches, three lounging chairs, and smaller stools and chairs spread out. Two low but wide tables were distributed amongst these chairs and couches.

With so much space to sit, everyone lounged comfortably around one of the tables, waiting for the food to arrive. Cooking was not allowed inside the cottages. There were two large kitchens behind the main lobby of the Inn. All food was cooked there, and delivered to the separate cottages.

Rihanna had discussed this for a while with both Artreya and Ye Luo. Both of them were still not sure about this decision of hers, but chose not to interfere. Having spent a long time with each other, they believed Rihanna could take care of herself.

Rihanna had also discussed with Little Purple. She liked these Uncles, but she could not chose to be ignorant and blindly trust someone. So if she was going to reveal a part of her secrets to them, she also needed to be prepared for any troubles arising due to it.

As they sat, chit-chatting about lighter matters, no one noticed the three, almost invisible streams of purple energy slowly come out of Rihanna's body, moving downwards to the floor. It moved forward while staying low near the ground, till it reached the feet of the three clueless people. Without them realizing anything, the energy slowly entered through their skin, circled around their body, gradually settling around their spirit roots.

Once she received the confirmation from Little Purple, Rihanna heaved a deep sigh of relief. She couldn't help feeling a bit guilty. It was not that she didn't trust them. Indeed they had taken care of her when she had nothing. But these secrets of hers could bring her a lot of enemies. And she couldn't take any risks.

Uncle Ranaba had been keeping an eye on Rihanna. Something had struck him before, when they were discussing about going to Void River. But it was very fleeting, and it was gone before he could grasp it.

"Why are you taking so much risk? You are a commoner. You lack the power and strength to fend for yourself. Your friends may be strong, but they can't take care of you at all times. Moreover, even their combined strength might not be enough if you fall in any danger."

"I agree with Ranaba. This world of cultivation might look all glamorous and exciting, but it not easy. In fact it is full of dangers. You should return back to your home-city. Or maybe you could leave with your friend for his Sect. Surely he can find you some good and simple work in the Sect. Why do you want to risk your life when you have the opportunity of living an easier life her?"

"Don't get us wrong. We have nothing against commoners. And I personally find you more interesting than many cultivators. You don't have the snobbishness and arrogance of those Sect disciples. And yet you have great understanding and comprehension of techniques and skills. With your intelligence, you could even become an assistant to an alchemist or weaponry master!"

Rihanna didn't interrupt. She had nothing to say since they were truly concerned about her. They were some of the first people in this strange world who had shown her care and been concerned about her. Every time they met, they were genuinely happy to see her. And even now, each of their words showed how much they were worried about her decision.

"Is there something else? There seems to be something which you want to say..."

"What is it? You can speak without any fear before us, you know? You can say whatever you have in your mind. We will not mind it."

Rihanna looked at each of her Uncles, then glanced at Artreya. She didn't know how to put everything she had to tell them into words. So she finally decided to just show them.

Placing her eyes, Rihanna closed her eyes to focus. Slowly the wind in the room started circling towards her. As the wind inside the room moved towards her raised palm, more and more wind poured in through the open windows. Gradually a tiny whirlwind started forming above her open palm.

Initially, the three older people were a bit startled at this sudden move on her part. Then thy frowned when they noticed something happening in the air. When the vortex opened over her palm, they were staring in complete shock and disbelief. They kept looking at the whirlwind, and then glanced at Rihanna, then looked at the vortex again, unable to believe what was happening was created by a commoner!

Rihanna didn't stop. Once the vortex started solidifying over her palm, she released her ice energy. The moisture in the room was sucked into the vortex, and slowly started solidifying into ice crystals. Soon the vortex was filled with spinning sharp ice crystals. Then the two vortexes separated, one carrying the wind, the other filled with dense ice shards.

Rihanna took a deep breath, then focused harder, and the two vortexes moved out of her palm, each spinning towards different parts of the room. Though the whirlwinds were small, they were very dense and had a lot of power due to their absorbing nature.

The wind vortex started sucking at everything in its way. Small chunks of wood, cloth, stone, dust broke off from the furniture and floor, being sucked up by the whirlwind. The ice vortex on the other hand started pelting everything nearby with its ice shards. Soon all the furniture on its side was filled with tiny ice shards stuck deep into their wooden and cloth parts.

When Rihanna finally stopped, and both the vortexes gradually dispersed, an absolute silence descended in the room. The three older men were staring at the little girl in utter shock. They couldn't even open their mouth to form words. For a long while there was only three pairs of eyes, staring at her in shocked daze.

It was the arrival of the service boy with their food that broke the silence. The two young boys swiftly laid out the dishes on the table before them, then closed the door of the cottage gently before leaving. Rihanna rubbed her nose. After such a long gap of silence, she was starting to rethink her decision.

Was it really that hard for them to accept it? What was she supposed to do if they were unable to accept her with her cultivation?

She had decided to tell them about this since they would all be going on this mission together. It would be impossible for her to keep her powers controlled at all times. She would try to keep them hidden from the other members of the mission, and stay away from them. But these people would always be around her. So it would probably be better if they knew about this beforehand.

That is what she had thought. But was that a wrong decision? Should she ask Little Purple to send some energies to their brain and try to remove this memory? Or ask Phantasm to create an illusion around this part of their memory?

"This doesn't look like Devil Cultivation technique."

Rihanna looked at Uncle Ranaba in surprise when he finally spoke to break through the silence. However, his words and voice, both, sounded very serious.

"It is not. I cannot say exactly what method this is, as I have yet to find a written method which is similar to the way I cultivate."

"But you don't have a spirit root. How are you able to cultivate?"

"I.....I have the Heaven Earth Energy Absorbing Physique."

Uncle He gasped, while Yaoi looked startled and Ranaba merely raised an eyebrow in surprise. After a moment of digesting this information, Uncle Ranaba spoke up again.

"Though this body type is uncommon, but still there are plenty of commoners with this body type. I have never heard of any of them being able to cultivate."

"Wait....is this the reason that boy was so persistent in wanting to take you back with him?"

Artreya was frowning at the side. He didn't know that she had a special physique, since she always kept it hidden. Since she had bonded with the Golden-Dragon Armlet, her physique was hard to decipher. He felt perplexed.

Did his Master have the same kinds of troubles as he had. Was she too chased by people for her special physique. Did people want to use her for their own gains as well?.....Was this the reason that she singled him out in the Dorminions Lair and saved him?!

Rihanna was too involved after being bombarded by the Uncles, so she couldn't spare any mind to what Artreya was thinking. Or she would have said that he was over thinking things!

"I don't know how or why I can cultivate. I found out I can cultivate accidentally, after fell of the cliff into the Poison Swamp. There are no techniques which go with my style of cultivation, so I am trying to figure out my own methods and skills."

"So.....you are wanting to go on this mission to try and figure out your methods through more experiences?'

Ranaba nodded at the end of his own words. He was not exactly asking a question, but trying to put in words what he was thinking.

"Oh!.....I want to ask then...that black hog....is that your contract beast? It was with you even in Green-Stone City!"

Rihanna blinked at them in surprise then turned to look at Artreya as she pursed her lips to hide the smile.

"Ummm.....yeah....the Black Hog.....and also the Pink Hog...."

She glanced at Artreya, but decided against mentioning about their contract. Having a contract beast took a lot of mental power. Having two beasts contracted to herself already was shocking, because that would require a lot more of mental power. There was no need to mention her other spiritual contracts or human contracts. The lesser people knew, the better for both sides. Besides, Artreya was her friend, and the spiritual beasts were invisible. Well....Apu could make himself invisible!