ENTER MUTO

The aura exudes a suffocating feeling onto Shinji, who takes a knee. He tries to use chi stride to get away but is unable due to the amount of pressure which is currently around his body. The man then continues to walk towards Shinji and with each step, cracks the earth underneath him.

"I will ask again. Why are you using dark chi?"

Shinji tries to get a word out, but is too afraid to actually say anything. Once he realizes this, it angers him. A memory flashes in front of his eyes. It was one he had as a child where his siblings tied him to a tree and beat him up until his mother came home. Though he barely remembers his past, he releases an intense amount of bloodlust at the man. This puts the man on guard as he never thought a child would exude that much bloodlust. This also gave Shinji a small window to use chi stride to gain distance between him and his opponent.

"I think I should be able to get a word out before you suffocate me to death, don't you think?"

"Oh yeah? Well, let's hear it because as far as I know, only a couple people can utilize dark chi. There is the Yumiko family, who it comes natural to and there are people who sacrifice something to gain dark chi."

Shinji smirks.

"Let me take a wild guess. You do not think that I am a member of the Yumiko family, correct?"

"No. They are known to have either snow white hair and red eyes or demon-like body parts such as horns, claws or a tail. You have neither, kid."

Shinji sighs

"I knew it."

Though Shinji's hair is black, his eyes are crimson red, however this is not enough evidence.

"Well, Mister. Have you ever heard of the term 'Black Sheep"?"

The man looks at Shinji, puzzled.

Shinji sighs once again.

"I am in fact a part of the Yumiko family. That is all I am willing to explain."

Shinji takes off his shirt and shows the Yumiko's Branding Seal on his neck.

The man inspects the seal and ultimately finds it to be authentic. He then smiles and it turns into laughing.

"Wahahaha! Why did you not say so earlier, kid? Now that you mention it, you do look familiar!"

Shinji facepalms

"You are one weird old man."

Seeming to take offense, the man tries to deny the statement.

"I am not old, kid! Old people have wrinkles. I am still on the market, boasting crystal clear skin. The name's Muto. So like, why did you dye your hair, kid?"

"I don't know. I wanted a clean start."

Muto folds his arms.

"Huh. Interesting. Well, you did well to mask it, I guess but if a strong cultivator like me is around, you will probably not be hiding very well."

Shinji looks at him with confusion.

"How strong are you? You feel different from my mother."

Muto looks up, reminiscing.

"The Demon Queen, Asmodeus, huh? Well as far as I know, we are on the same level but she is weaker in terms of physical strength and excels farther than me in magic and chi."

"How terrifying."

The two laugh for a bit and Muto begins to walk away. Shinji acknowledges it.

"Going away so soon after threatening me?"

"Eh? Oh, here, for your troubles, I guess."

Muto throws him a pill, coloured vibrantly as if it were a rainbow.

"That is a high tier pill. You may be able to go up some levels from it. See ya."

And with that, Muto leaves, heading towards a hill, decorated with trees.

Soon after, Wazuki and Ruka appear, coming from the market.

"Oi, Shinji. Are you finished with whatever you had to do?"

"Yeah. Met some old guy but it's all sorted out."

Shinji heads to the farmhouse along with the other two. Once they arrive, they notice Marlin and Kibe talking to an elderly woman. They continue to head towards the two who notice them. Kibe walks over.

"Oh, hey guys! I found him!"

Shinji looks at him with an annoyed expression.

"So, how did you find Mr. Friendless over there?"

Kibe scratches his head and gives an awkward laugh recalling the situation that he just went through. Before he could react, Marlin walks over, addressing the group.

"I heard that. And after all that trouble I went through to get us a place to stay before we depart again."

Shinji folds his arms while Wazuki and Ruka offer their thanks. Marlin sighs and the group begins to walk into the farmhouse barn which was located directly beside it. When inside, the group notices that there is already hay stacked in the shape of beds and most of the animals are not located inside. They infer that this is a common occurrence between adventurers and ultimately smile at the old lady's kind gesture. Each person, except Ruka, was placed in a stable together and who stayed where was determined by drawing straws.

"Dammit! Redo, Kibe!"

"Nah, I think I'm good, haha!"

Shinji and Marlin drew the shortest straws and were tasked with sleeping in the same stable. Shinji tried everything in his power to switch spots, including offering Ruka a couple silver pieces (which he didn't have) to sleep with their backs turned to each other. He was declined which came as a surprise to no one and had to stay where he was placed.

Shinji jumps into the hay in a tantrum.

"This is so not fair!"

"Are you still on about that? You can literally go outside and sleep there. It does not make much of a difference to me."

Marlin replied while messing with a giant tub of water.

Shinji, who was already annoyed, observed him.

"What are you even doing?"

"A special method of cultivating."

"Is getting stronger all you think about?"

"No. It is my goal, however. If I want to make sure my goal is achieved, I need strength."

Shinji thinks to himself.

(He basically answered my question by saying no, but yes!)

Marlin, seeing Shinji observing him, sighs and offers a suggestion.

"Everyone else is cultivating. You should probably do so as well."

"Yeah. yeah. Focus on yourself."

Marlin, annoyed sighs and ignores the last comment. He begins to heat the water using Excalibur, the Blade Caster's Flamebringer form then drops two pills into the water while stirring. During this, his wolf tries to take a drink of the water and gets away with a couple sips before Marlin places him elsewhere.

"Don't be annoying."

The wolf then leaves the barn and Marlin continues to stir until the solution itself begins to glow. He takes some herbs that he got from Kibe and added it to the mixture then takes off most of his clothing, leaving his mask on.

Shinji, amazed by this, inquires.

"Why leave the mask on?"

"While hiding my identity, it also masks the level of cultivation I have."

"So you are self conscious. Alright then I guess that is fair."

Marlin begins to Cultivate and Shinji does the same. By this time, everyone is cultivating and after a while, as the sun sets and the moon rises, they all hear a knock on the door.

The first person to see what it was, Wazuki, opens the barn door to see Muto standing there with a bag and a giant greatsword that he is holding with one hand, over his shoulder.

[END OF CHATER 15]