Heaven Favors You (2)

I felt some movement of power behind my back. Roll! Only the fire arrow turned around and flew at me again! What the hell, are you kidding me? There are also three at the meridian sphere running towards me and casting something on the go. Oh, no, now there are two—a beetle broke through the ice right under the feet of one of them. Strange, can't they feel them? To me, their desire to kill, seasoned with power, feels quite distinct.

The self-guided technique continued to pursue me, so I jumped over one of the beetles and covered myself with its body. Explosion! Looking at the half of the beetle, I shuddered, imagining myself in its place. What did I do to them? I should have asked my father when I had the chance.

"Well, what are you?" I pulled the scepter out of the ring. Yep, definitely a magic wand. The handle, covered with leather, fit comfortably in my hand, and a huge ruby crowned the golden knob. The amount of spiritual energy inside the stone made my eyes sting. After hesitating, I activated the scepter and nearly lost my arm. A humming whip of pure flame flew out of the ruby.

Waving my hand, I realized I was an idiot. Because a whip is not just a piece of leather on a stick, but quite materialized energy and it needs to be controlled using technique. Damn you, I hardly have any Qi left! But I had to activate Pure Flame again.

Obeying my will, the flame arc darted around, scattering ice beetles like bowling pins. Powerful thing, I wish I had something like this back then, in the arena...

Other practitioners had already stopped trying to kill me. Apparently, like me, they were running low on Qi. Flame flashes appeared less and less frequently, there was less and less cursing and shouting. But the beetles just kept coming and coming. At some point, I was the only one left alive—the fiery whip hardly used any of my energy, and the artifact itself had a solid reserve. But even that was coming to an end. I tried to escape. I left behind swaths of mad insects, but their flow just wouldn't end. And at one beautiful moment, the whip simply disappeared, and I put the artifact in the ring, gripping the sword tighter.

At some point, a colossal pressure fell on me. Someone's cold fury descended on this place, the concentration of icy Qi became so great that my acceleration technique simply went out. Or did I run out of Qi? I immediately started shaking from the cold and was already preparing to accept my death when something strange happened—the beetles began to run away, taking some of the bodies with them as a last resort. Raising my head, I saw a human figure rapidly approaching me. It was from this figure that this monstrous power emanated.

"Where's Borai?" the man in a white and blue robe asked first.

"Dead," I waved towards the carnage. The man gave me a heavy look, and then a wave of power spread from his body in all directions. He lowered his gaze, his hands covered with frost, and he clapped. The next moment, a huge crack appeared in the ice, from which boxes and bags that the ice beetles had been dragging down all this time flew up. Well, well, I had completely forgotten about our cargo. Not everything could be recovered, a significant part remained under the layer of ice, but the main thing—a familiar jade ring also rose to the surface... The man immediately grabbed it and froze for a moment.

"Damn it! Where are the documents?" he asked, for some reason, me. "Who are you anyway?"

"Me? I'm Kai Shen, senior," I answered sluggishly and bowed.

"And what are you doing here, Kai from the Shen family? Killed someone too important to just brush off, or another family intrigue didn't go according to plan?"

"More like the second," I mused thoughtfully. "Or vice versa—everything went according to someone's plan. Unfortunately, I haven't been part of this family for long, and no one has initiated me into such subtleties."

"Yes, you seem too small to be hanging around here. Are you even sixteen?" his question stumped me. And indeed, how old am I?

"I don't know," I admitted.

"I see. Another talent caught in the gears of this family," he sighed and looked at me with some sympathy. "My name is Belozar Zeifert. I'm one of the three masters of the Ice Fort."

"Pleased to meet you. You have a strange name," slipped out of me. And the appearance was unusual too—I last saw blonde hair and blue eyes... A long time ago.

"It's a long story," he waved it off. "Do you even know what this place is?"

"In general terms," I grimaced. "There's no fire Qi here."

"This place is a hidden kingdom, the entrance to which opens once every ten years. The exit, accordingly, too. Here, in the Frosty Ridge, there are dangers galore, and the only outpost of civilization is the Ice Fort. There's a high probability that you might not live to see the next portal opening. Although you held up pretty well. You handle a sword skillfully, albeit unsystematically. Only your fire technique is complete trash. Only good for fighting beetles."

"I'm sorry, this was the best available in the open part of the library," I averted my gaze. "And they didn't let me into the family one."

Did I succeed? Did he believe me? Is the interrogation over? The spiritual pressure disappeared, and I once again freely inhaled the icy air with full lungs and immediately coughed. How cold it is!

"Don't apologize, boy. It's clearly not your fault. And it's not that important. You survived, which means Heaven favors you. Here's what, a flying vessel will arrive here soon, you'll help the guys load the boxes onto it, and I'll credit you ten points for it."

"Points?"

"They'll explain the details in the Fort," he waved it off. "And remember—this isn't the Phoenix sect. If you betray your comrades, you'll be thrown out into the cold immediately. Understood?"

I just nodded, watching the frosty sorcerer fly away. At this time, a flying boat just landed nearby. Much smaller than the one I had recently flown on, it still served its function properly. Guys and girls were already jumping to the ground, heading towards the boxes. And every single one of them radiated frosty spiritual power. I hid the sword in its scabbard, and, after hesitating, hung it on my belt. Let it be in direct access. Just in case. In this form, I approached the boat that had descended onto the icy wasteland.

"Hi. I'm Kai Shen, need any help? Master Belozar said to carry boxes," I said simply and straightforwardly.

I found myself under the scrutiny of a dozen attentive gazes. Simple but sturdy clothes of red and white color strongly distinguished me against the background of the surrounding white wasteland. However, the streaks of blue insides of the beetles smoothed out the situation. That's if I'm putting it mildly. In reality, I was literally covered from head to toe in disgusting blue goo! I really hope there's a bath in this place. I even agree to an icy one. The water will still be warmer than the surrounding air anyway.

"If Belozar said so, then carry," some girl with a gray streak in her hair shouted at me.

Together we quickly managed the loading, and the flying ship headed towards the mountains. It was warm inside the ship, and I sat down with pleasure right on the floor in the corner. They didn't bother me with questions—apparently, my condition was visible to the naked eye. And I didn't even notice how I fell asleep.

"Hey, boy. We've arrived," someone gently pushed me in the shoulder. Opening my eyes, I saw that same girl.

"I'm Kai Shen," I repeated. There were no boxes inside anymore—apparently, no one simply decided to wake me up.

"I'm Aina, kiddo. Go to the Fort, don't keep the masters waiting."

With difficulty, I got up from the warm floor and left the hospitable transport. The view that opened up to me was stunning—a huge and majestic castle, as if carved from a single crystal, crowned the mountain. The amount of spiritual energy was simply mind-boggling—this is a real Klondike for practitioners! Only there's one nuance—for practitioners of a certain element.

Passing through the massive gates, I found myself in a spacious square. Belozar was already walking towards me, along with a white-haired woman of amazing beauty. Halfway there, she slowed her step and looked me straight in the eyes with disbelief. This look... Why did my chest suddenly ache?

"Little Kai? Is that you?"