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The arrow bounced off Lex's barrier with a simple clang sound, as if nothing happened, but Lex's casual expression turned serious. Although there was no visible sign of it, the arrow had nearly punctured his barrier!
"We're too exposed, jump down," Cwenhild said, before jumping down herself as well. Indeed, the entire group standing near the tip of a very long tree made them easy targets.
Lex jumped down as well, his guard up the entire time, but there was no follow up attack. Considering that they hadn't even been able to see who the attacker was, the group raised their guard instead of relaxing in the absence of a follow up.
"Do you think they gave up after their first attack failed?" one of the group members asked.
"Possibly. But that attack was very misleading. The speed and sound of the arrow made it seem like it was ordinary, but if anyone else would have blocked it, the arrow would have torn through your defense. Whoever attacked was very powerful. If they were just probing, then it's likely that they're gone, but if they're targeting us, then they're probably just waiting for us to drop our guard."
"Lex, say on guard. Warn us as soon as you sense something off. Patrick, scan the ruins. We're looking for high or concentrated energy signatures. If we don't pick up anything, we'll make a beeline for the mountains."
The group spread out a bit, while Cindy and Ness went out to see if they could learn anything about their tracker. Patrick scanned the ruins, but this time it took much longer for he was being careful not to attract too much attention.
When Cindy and Ness returned, their report was worrying. They couldn't pick up any signs of their attacker whatsoever. This meant that whoever it was, they were extremely proficient in counter tracking, not to mention there was no way of knowing if they were around or had left. Lex couldn't sense anything at the moment, but that wasn't any assurance.
"There are three extremely concentrated energy zones in the ruins, as well as many life forms. I can't differentiate between beasts and people from a basic scan, but regardless, the ruins are full."
"Lead us to the nearest one. We'll take the most direct route."
Cwenhild's focus now was on being as direct as possible to save time, but for better or for worse, the peaceful portion of their journey came to an end. While they still created an intimidating enemy for beasts, the beasts were already being attacked by numerous students who teleported near these ruins. In the midst of battle, even if they faced an impossible foe, they had no choice but to fight - and fight they did.
The group quickly figured out that the ruins had split into three territories belonging to two different beast packs and one flock or avian beasts, and all of them were ferocious. Perhaps under normal circumstances, it would have taken them time to cut through them, but Cwenhild had finally stepped away from just commanding, and was leading the group directly beside Patrick.
Her choice of weapon was an enchanted glaive, though Lex had yet to see her use her enchantments because no foe could survive more than a single cut. Lex wasn't measuring time, but they reached the first concentrated energy zone fairly quickly - and it became immediately apparent why the energy was so dense here.
There was a formation, surrounding a single story building. The building was completely untouched, and gave the group a glimpse of what these ruins must have looked like in their glory days.
But neither the smooth white walls nor the intricate blue tile patterns drew the group's attention here. Instead, it was a battle between a group of humans and beasts that drew their sight.
Cwenhild frowned, then sighed. She could foresee how this would end, but… the beasts had to die for them to figure out how to get through the formation, so she led her group to attack.
The beasts gave them no problem at all, and in a few minutes, the fighting ended. The humans didn't immediately thank them for the assistance, though, and eyed them warily.
A glance was all it took to tell that Cwenhild and the rest were together, while the others had come together out of the necessity of the moment. Cwenhild held the advantage but the allure of whatever treasure this building held was enough to get them to try.
There was a silent stand off between the two groups, each waiting to see how the other would react, until Lex let out an annoyed sigh.
"Alright, alright. Let's get on with it. Which one of you is the strongest? Try and attack me. If you can prick my finger, you can join us. If not, I suggest you leave. This is not me forcing you, just by the way. This is me strongly advising you not to fling yourself off a cliff, because you won't like the ending."
Without waiting for a reply, Lex held out his hand, as if inviting them to attack. His nonchalance irritated the other group, while his companions silently observed him. In the end, a particularly well dressed student broke out of the group, looking at Lex with disdain.
"Who do you think you are, to advise me? I'm advising you, little kid. Get lost, and never show me your face again. If I unleash an attack, let alone your finger, even your ancestors will be decimated. Next time, wash your teeth before talking to me, because your breath stinks just as bad as your threats. You…"
Lex stopped listening as his expression fell. He was not one to be easily irked by insults, but he suddenly had flashbacks of the system telling him to brush as well. He was an extremely clean and hygienic person, goddammit!
"Do whatever you want," Lex said as he put down his arm and returned to the group, ignoring the verbal diarrhea being spewed by the arrogant prick. The group was smirking and chuckling as Lex walked back, all enjoying his slight humiliation.
It was not out of spite. It was just that Lex was the only one who ever came out of their fights and training unharmed, so now that he finally suffered some kind of loss they couldn't help but enjoy it. Cwenhild, too, felt the urge to tease Lex, but ultimately didn't as she wanted to stay on task.
Without any forewarning, Cwenhild appeared before the ranting student and rammed the backend of her glaive into his stomach, throwing him to the ground. The remaining students, caught off guard, were shocked, and then angered. Though before they could respond, Bearin appeared in front of them and crashed right into their group.
He was careful not to use too much force, as he didn't want to kill anyone. But the difference between an elite, dual path cultivator and a single path cultivator became easily apparent.
"This is your only warning," Cwenhild said, looking at the group with stern eyes. "Get lost or we'll stop holding back."
As he watched the fear and anger paint the students faces, Lex snorted. That's what they got for wasting his good intentions.
"Any idea how to open the formation?" Tim asked. "I can try using my bloodline to do some damage, but if opening this was as simple as brute force, I doubt this formation would have lasted this long."
"I could try to read the formation, but that would take a while," said Lex.
"No need, we've come prepared. Jovi, link up."
Jovi quickly ran up to the formation and opened up his backpack, taking out a number of items that looked like hex nuts. One by one, he began attaching them to the formation surrounding the building, making sure he attached them perfectly level with one another. In the end, he handed the last one to Cwenhild who did not waste time on explanations or ceremony. She channeled her spirit energy, activating whatever items these were. The formation immediately reacted, warping into odd shapes until, eventually, the formation shattered.
A wave of dense spirit energy flooded out when the formation collapsed, causing Lex to become momentarily stunned. He was not the only one, as the entire group froze. Not only was this energy extremely concentrated, it was of a much higher quality than whatever they were absorbing.
But the stun effect only lasted a moment, mostly because the system absorbed it all! The accumulation rose by 0.1%, bringing his total to 1.3%.
Once the rest of the group recovered as well, their eyes became frenzied with excitement and greed as they looked at the building. Whatever it was holding had to be absolutely amazing!
"Let go," Cwenhild said, "but don't drop your guard. If whoever shot that arrow is still around, they'll take advantage of any distraction."
The group quickly recomposed themselves and went towards the building, only for the doors to open on their own.
"Welcome guests," said a warm, deep voice.
Lex felt weird being at the opposite end of a welcome, but he did not let the greeting drop his guard. He peered inside the door, but could not see anyone. The little he could make of the room inside gave him the impression that it was a cozy, carpeted reception, well lit and with a line of chairs to sit in, as well as an empty reception desk.
But when he was done looking, he realized that his companions seemed much more wary than him.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Didn't you hear that creepy noise?" Bearin remarked, slightly annoyed. The sound… whatever that sound was gave him chills down his spine. The best way to describe it was an utter gut wrenching squeal of a dying man.
"The noise? You mean the welcome?" he asked, confused. But the confusion lasted only a moment, as he quickly realized what happened. Lex could speak and understand all languages in the universe due to the Universal Language Converter that had been tattooed behind his ear. In fact, most of the time he wasn't even aware that he was speaking in another language, as to him, it was all in English. But the difference became evident in a situation like this, where they encountered a language no one else spoke.
The greatest problem Lex had now was… he had no idea what language he was speaking, so if anyone asked, he'd have to make something up.
"The 'sound' was a greeting which said 'welcome guests'. Though, I can't seem to see who was speaking."
"Alright, get in defensive formation. Lex, you lead. No matter what the situation, we need to investigate the house."
Lex nodded, and walked in, his shield in his hand. It wasn't that he didn't trust his own defenses, but after that arrow nearly broke through his barrier, he decided to stop underestimating everyone.
As soon as they entered, a projection appeared behind the reception desk and looked at them. The projection seemed to be a female from the Crystal race. Their body structure - externally, at least - was remarkably similar to humans except, instead of skin, their body was made up of see through crystals. The way humans? wore clothes to cover their skin, the Crystal race covered their bodies in cloth and colored gems. To allow others to look through their clear body was considered extremely indecent, equivalent to a human in the nude.
But even wrapped in a simple cloth, with turquoise crystals forming a smooth mask to cover her face, the projection looked immaculate. Under the gaze of her purple eyes, Lex felt a warmth in his heart, as if it pleased him to be looked at by her. The innocence in her eyes, the gentleness of her…
Lex's soft expression turned hard as he brought his shield forward and drew his sword, glaring at the projection like an enemy. His sudden action startled the group, as well as the projection, but before anyone could inquire, Lex spoke in the same gut wrenching language that the group had heard earlier.
"If the hospitality of your race involves influencing your guests spirit, then I must say, I am quite disgusted by the Crystal race."
The projection of the woman was suddenly even more surprised by his words, but then giggled.
"Silly human, why do you resist? Is it not your honor to be deemed a guest by the great- the great - the great…" the projection started stuttering, while her seemingly simple and innocent visage began to morph.
"There's something wrong with the projection," Lex warned but, just as he was expecting the worst, the projection disappeared and the lights turned off. They waited a few more moments to see if anything would happen, but nothing did.
It seemed time had eventually caught up with whatever mechanism was keeping this building operating.
Turning on the talisman equivalent of a flashlight, the group continued further in. From the outside, it appeared as though the building was only one story large. Yet when they began exploring, they found stairs leading to a basement. Since the remainder of the building was empty Lex continued to lead the group down as he tried hard not to think of every horror movie he had ever seen.
It seemed that the hold horror movies had on a dark basement guarded by a crazy, hostile projection could affect even cultivators. Yet nothing crazy happened. Instead, after a couple flights down the stairs, they encountered a sealed metal door. There was no grip, handle or anything of the sort so he had no idea how to open it.
While Lex was comparing everything he saw to a zombie movie called Evil Resident, Cwenhild was keeping herself from having too much hope. Her instincts told her that such a well protected and guarded place would surely by the focal point, right? But at the same time, experience told her not to jump to conclusions.
To get through this sealed door, Cwenhild turned to the last two members of the group, the jade twins. They were both body and spirit path dual cultivators, but that was where the similarity between the two ended. Jade 1, as the older twin was called, was an intellectual, and specialized in materials engineering. Long story short, he was exceptionally good at destroying any object.
Jade 2 was strong. That was all there was to Jade 2, but when something excelled to a certain level, it entered a league of its own. Although he had not been able to break Lex's defense with his brute strength, he once picked Lex up and flung him hundreds of feet away with a single flick of the hand.
Owing to the hurry they were in, Jade 1 approached the metal wall and, after observing it, began to concoct some kind of solution from different items he had in his backpack. Barely a few minutes later, he added the solution to a plastic spray bottle and lightly sprayed the metal door, immediately causing it to start sizzling, and then eventually dissolve.
"Hold your breath," was all Jade 1 said as he returned the items to his bag.
Unfortunately, though, the mystery of the building was not immediately solved as they continued down a few more stories before reaching a massive hall that seemed to extend far beyond what their feeble lights could reveal.
"What are the chances this is a wedding hall?" Lex asked aloud while mentally telling himself that he had already killed zombies before so he should not be afraid.
"There's too much security for it to be something mundane, yet we haven't seen anything that would reveal what this place is," said Cwenhild, doing her best to figure out where they could be.
"The highest concentration of energy is that way," revealed Patrick, pointing straight ahead.
With his shield and sword still in hand, Lex slowly continued towards where Patrick pointed before he reached a large, glass wall. He could vaguely make out a few shapes on the other end of the wall so he squinted his eyes and brightened up his talisman to get a better view.
With the talisman shining brighter, Lex noticed a bit of writing on the glass wall but suddenly, it didn't matter. He no longer needed to read to understand what this place was.
"No way," he muttered in disbelief.
"What is it?" Patrick asked, coming closer. As the one with the best idea of how high the energy concentration was, he was the most excited. But the excitement turned into horror the moment he scanned the area beyond the glass with his spiritual sense.
"This is a sleeping bunker," Lex revealed to his companions, as he recalled what he knew of the Crystal races' culture.
As a species that enjoyed immortality, one of the favorite pastimes among their citizens was to visit the future. More specifically, since they could live for millions of years, their brains and psyches were developed in such a way that they were not depressed by the thought of living to infinity. As such, the dread of the future was often replaced by curiosity and wonder.
But, actually waiting a million years to see what the future held was a bit tedious. A much better way to see the future was to fast forward through the present - or as near to that as they could achieve.
This desire brought forth the idea of 'sleeping bunkers'. It was like a community time capsule service. Anyone interested could visit a sleeping bunker, state how much time they wanted to sleep, and then be put to rest for dozens, hundreds, thousands of years, or even longer. The bunker would provide them with absolute security, so they need not worry about the hassle of finding an appropriate place to go to sleep for extended periods of time. This was such a popular concept among the Crystal race that many knew of it. Lex had even studied about it in one of his classes.
And now, standing in front of hundreds of glass capsules with sleeping members of the Crystal race, Lex was in one.
Silence filled the room as everyone took in the sight. It was extremely rare for humans to get to see anything of the Crystal races society, let alone something as well protected as a sleeping bunker. Considering the fact that this minor realm had been unoccupied for a countless number of years, he could not even imagine how old these people- eh, crystals? He could not imagine how old these dudes were.
But the level of security suddenly made sense. It was no joke for a protection formation to continue running unsupervised for so many years, let alone the projection that 'welcomed' them once they came inside.
But, now that it had been established that this was a sleeping bunker, the next question was, now what? The implications of this discovery were monumental, but no matter what, they could not be allowed to wake up before Cwenhild took control of this realm. Lex did not want to speculate on whether they would be friendly or not, since he could not even explain to them why this realm had been abandoned in the first place should they wake. It would be perfectly understandable if they assumed the worst at seeing intruders as soon as they awoke.
"Do you think the other high energy spots are sleeping bunkers as well?" Lex asked, after the silence had gone long enough. Patrick had discovered 2 other high energy concentration places that they had yet to visit.
"Unlikely. It wouldn't make sense to have multiple bunkers nearby. Anyway, let's go. This glass wall should be the last barrier to the bunker and should not be easily penetrated. It will keep anyone else from trying to wake them up, but we should not waste any time."
Cwenhild's voice was even, and did not betray any emotion besides calm, but internally she was practically swooning. The value of this realm had suddenly exceeded anything they could have imagined, and as long as she obtained this realm before the crystals woke up, she could even negotiate certain terms with her own mother.
"What do you think it's like, sleeping for years at a time?" Lex asked while they rushed towards the next spot.
"Their consciousness enters an artificial dream shared by all in the sleeping bunker," Jade 1 answered succinctly. "They have to maintain such a state to provide stimuli to their spirit, since they're only asleep, not dead. Still, in the dream, time passes by much slower than in real life. A day in the dream may as well be a year."
"Cool," Lex commented, as he made a mental note of the idea. Maybe he could do something like that in the Inn for guests who rent rooms for extended periods of time.
While no one said anything regarding it, the speed at which the group moved betrayed a sense of urgency that filled them.
The second spot they reached seemed like some sort of temple. Countless students already filled the area, all of them exploring the massive structure in small groups or on their own. Lex and his group paid them no mind and directly followed as Patrick led them to their destination, and if anyone tried to stop them, or worse, rob them… Lex had learnt his lesson and no longer tried to play the good guy, meaning the least any of them got was multiple broken bones.
Deep underground, after exploring for a few hours, they finally reached an extremely well protected chamber. Formations, projections, and automated guards protected the chamber, but their strength had fallen greatly over the course of time and so, after some effort, they broke through.
For a moment, it felt like they had actually discovered what they were looking for. The room was filled with literal treasure. Crystal coins, weapons, clothes, books, tokens, talismans and more filled the room. As tempting as the sight was, it was a floating, gold and crystal crown that attracted everyone's attention. But, after probing it, Cwenhild revealed that the crown was not what they were looking for. Thus, as much as it physically pained them, the group left all that treasure and went towards their next objective. Trying to carry it would only slow them down, and the realm was more valuable than this measly treasure, anyway. The only thing they took was the crown. They did not know what it was, or what it did, but it clearly was significant and did not weigh them down.
The third and final spot in these ruins ended up being a crater. A deep, dark hole, tearing directly through a building and the ground was violently gushing spiritual energy. They could not even get close, as even Lex started to bleed spontaneously when he approached it, let alone anyone else.
Lex could not even absorb the abundant spiritual energy as it was not neutral, and had a very destructive nature. Whatever the cause or origin, it was beyond anything they could handle. With that, they were only left with one option - to head towards the mountains.
There were still other ruins they could explore, but they were out of the way, and it just seemed probably that whatever Cwinheld needed to claim the realm would be at the most energy dense spot in the realm. It was a shame, for crossing the mountain would not be a quick task.
Even if they ran uninterrupted, it would take them hours to simply reach the mountain. As for crossing the mountain and reaching whatever was causing the glow… it would take a while - to say the least.
Not wasting any time, they immediately began their journey, taking the most direct route. Their intimidating presence and urgency caused most to move out of their way, whether they were humans or beasts but a few still sought to stand in their way, either out of misplaced ego or greed. But with the group no longer pulling any punches, no one could stop them for long. Ness especially enjoyed such violent, full force clashes and kept hoping for more of them.
Since the only source of light in the realm was that glow behind the mountains it was hard to track time, but Lex felt like half a day passed before they reached the foot of the mountains. Here they took another break, using the time to eat and drink some water, and take short naps. An hour later, they resumed their journey.
Lex had been expecting crossing the mountains to be dangerous, since they were getting closer to the most energy rich part of the realm. Instead, the journey became even smoother. Let alone encounter a fight, the group did not even see another living being in the vicinity. While this was good for maintaining their travel speed, the eerie silence caused the group to raise their guard.
At a certain point, as they trekked through a particularly steep valley, the sound of their footsteps echoed for miles, and yet not even a sleeping bird was disturbed. The mountains had been as still and silent as death before their arrival, and after a while, the peaks started to weigh down on them.
An unknown pressure filled the air and began stifling them. Crossing the mountains unabated somehow became more tiring than their journey before. After what felt like an entire day since they entered the mountains, they took their second break. This time, instead of a short break, they rested properly since they had become mentally exhausted. Keeping their guard up continuously for an entire day was more exhausting than actually fighting.
But while the group took turns sleeping, Lex sat in a corner with a frown. A strange sense of déjà vu was hitting him. Normally this wasn't exactly enough to worry him, since the feeling would pass. But that was just it - the feeling wasn't passing, but getting stronger as they crossed the mountains.
Try as he might, though, he could not figure out what was causing this feeling. In the end, he chose to focus on the Inn instead. It would likely be another day before they reached their destination, and there was no point in wasting his time dwelling on nonsense in the meantime.
*****
Unknown Planet, Origin realm
A group of angry and anxious looking men were gathered around in a circle, their eyes focused on a young man, as well as a shaman who sat opposite to him. The shaman was burning some kind of paper with a pink flame, the smoke released blood red and the ash falling yellow like sand. His eyes were shut, and he seemed to be in some kind of trance.
Despite all the focus on the shaman, no one noticed as the tips of his hair started glowing red, and then burning away. At first, one could have mistaken the scene and thought that the group's attention was focused elsewhere, but even as his hair went from simply glowing to being fully aflame, no one noticed.
It was only when the flames touched his scalp, and the shaman screamed and let go of the burning paper, that the group suddenly became aware of what had happened. Like magic, the moment the shaman let go of the paper, the flame also disappeared. Yet even in the brief moment that the flame had touched him, all the flesh on his scalp had been burnt away to ash.
The shaman collapsed, losing consciousness, but the group, instead of attending to him, swarmed the young man to ensure he was unharmed.
Physically, he was fine, but his frustration was eating him alive.
"Trash! Vermin! Frauds! Can't do anything right! Find someone else, and this time make sure they're not a fake! I need to be able to track my soulmate before Lady Cosmos ends, or I'll never be able to find her!"
The young man had been trying to divine the location of one of the contestants of the Lady Cosmos show, but how could it be so simple to peek into the secrets of the Midnight Inn? Just like him, countless others all over the universe had learnt of the Lady Cosmos show as its popularity had exploded! And just like him, countless others were undeterred by whatever prestige the Inn may have had, and tried to find its guests, or learn its secrets. For now, only the shamans and prophets who were trying to learn the Inns secrets had suffered its backlash. For now.
Lex had been checking the Inn on and off, ensuring that no issues occurred. Unfortunately, despite the deterrence of a dragon, petty fights still broke out often. Not all guests were as particular about how they behaved, and others believed themselves special. Lex actually laughed the first time he overheard someone screaming 'do you know who my father is?'.
Now, though, even mild irritation was a huge reaction for such behavior. After all, it was just too common. But, considering that currently he had a little over 5 million guests in the village, it was excusable!
The pressure of so many guests was immense, but so was the reward. On average, most guests came in parties between 2 to 4. Even if all of them shared a room, and only rented the cheapest room, then on the average of 4 guests to a room Lex was earning 62.5 million MP a night! But they most certainly were not just renting the most basic room, and they didn't always cohabitate either. Other than the rooms, Lex was earning a lot from food not to mention the income Lady Cosmos was generating directly.
All in all, Lex currently had 978,666,432 MP! This was after he spent another 10 million MP on more security, and another 5 million on more temporary employees. This time there were no more dragons or other over the top cultivators, mostly because what Lex needed was a higher number of guards, not higher quality of guards. After all, just the 30 Earth immortals he already had as guards were more than enough. As of yet, despite the massive influx of guests, Nascent realm was the highest level guest this event attracted. This proved that the kind of attendance he got for the Midnight Games was an anomaly.
Lex was very excited because with this kind of MP, and his elevated authority, he could really upgrade the Inn way beyond its current situation. But that would have to wait till he had more time. Currently, he was just checking in. He saw a system notification stating that due to the Destiny Protection upgrade Lex had previously received as a reward for the Midnight Games, many attempts at scrying or tracking his guests had been blocked.
For once, he was glad an issue was resolved before he even had to do anything. Feeling slightly generous due to his newfound wealth, Lex distributed 566,432 MP to all his permanent workers as a bonus. Obviously, the higher-ranking workers, such as Gerard and Velma, received a higher cut, but either way, it was sufficient for all his workers to enjoy for a while. As it happened, through sheer coincidence, after the bonus, Lex was left with a neat 978,100,000 MP.
With that, Lex stopped monitoring the Inn and decided to get some sleep. Tomorrow would be a long day.
A few hours later, Lex was woken up, and the group continued their journey in the desolate silence. For the most part, they were going through valleys, or around hills, but the last stretch was too wide a diversion, causing them to climb directly towards the top of the last mountain to get to the other side.
The gentle blue glow seemed to get brighter as they neared the top, but it was in sharp contrast to the weight that seemed to be pressing them down into the ground. With each step, it grew stronger and by now, it was no longer something that could simply be ignored. There was something up ahead that was influencing them from afar, everyone had already come to that conclusion. All they could really do was bear with it and be prepared for anything.
As they approached the final peak, along with the pressure, suspense grew. Lex felt his heart beating in his chest, each beat harder than the last. In the silence, he felt like he could even hear it.
But Lex did not feel like letting the moment lord over him, so his speed only grew until he found himself standing at the peak of the mountain, looking over.
In front of him lay a wasteland. Time had surely corroded away the truth of what happened here, but hundreds of bare craters covered the land. Bits and pieces of armor were still visible, after all this time, but most of it had faded away. In certain areas, the earth as black, as if scorched eternally from the fiercest of flames, marking the land forever.
This was the site of a once great battle, that much was certain. In the center of it all, in a structure like a Roman Pantheon, was a gold dish with a massive blue flame. Right in front of that flame, however, stood a dark figure with its back turned to them. Yet even from so far away Lex could identify who, or rather what, that figure belonged to. Suddenly it all made sense. The pressure they had been feeling, the sense of deja vu, all of it. It was a Kraven, as well as its coercion. No doubt it had already killed every beast and animal in these mountains.
It made no sense though. What was a Kraven doing here? How did it get here? Why was there only one? But that didn't matter. As if orchestrated by an invisible hand, before them stood their mortal enemy guarding what Lex suspected was their objective to begin with.
"Mr. Innkeeper, that flame is absorbing all the energy in the area. If you put it out, the energy will be free for you to take."
Lex nodded, showing his understanding, but his companions mistook his gesture. To them it seemed like Lex had mentally prepared himself for a tough fight.
"What the hell is a Kraven doing here?" asked Ness, dumbstruck.
"I don't know about that, but I suspect that blue flame has something to do with it," answered Lex.
"It's refining the realm," answered Cwenhild gravely. "It's found the focal point, and is taking the realm for itself. Patrick, can you scan it? How strong is it?"
"I can't confirm how strong it is specifically, but it's somewhere in the Golden core realm," Patrick answered with a look of disgust. He knew that they would have to fight that thing, and he wasn't really looking forward to it.
"A lone opponent in the Golden core realm, it's nothing we can't deal with. This is exactly what we've trained for, to fight enemies stronger than us. Once we beat it, the prize is ours. Cindy, scout out the area. Make sure there are no other surprises waiting for us. Silvia, bring everyone to top shape. Jovi, start planning the best approach. Tim, replenish your strength as much as you can, we'll be depending on your bloodline. Sohee..."
Cwenhild did not let anyone dwell on the task that lay ahead of them and immediately started making preparations. It was fitting for the final enemy to be a Kraven. No one would hold back, and everyone here had trained exceptionally long on how to defeat one. Furthermore, everyone here was an elite. The difference in a major realm was not one they couldn't overcome.
Whether Cwenhild's distractions worked or not, Lex didn't care. He wanted that fire put out so he could get the energy, so he was ready to fight, he needed no pumping.
No one was taking the upcoming fight lightly so the preparations took a few hours. There were no indications of any other Kraven which was a huge relief for them. With everyone ready, they directly trekked down the mountain.
They did not try to be stealthy, or hide their approach. Their actions were not out of bravado, but simple knowledge of their enemy. None of the races had studied the Kraven with as much depth as the humans, which is why everyone knew that this creature that had been dominating the Crystal realm was not doing it out of sheer luck. Its senses and awareness were beyond many other races, and had several extra senses than just sight or hearing to detect enemies.
Let alone the echoes that had been heralding their approach, just the slight temperature difference their bodies caused in the ground was enough to alert this enemy. A simple example of its foreknowledge was the coercion it had been putting out on them the last two days.
Coercion was not a trait specific to Kraven, and even humans could do it once their cultivation rose a bit, which is why there was such a deep understanding of it. Coercion didn't naturally exist, and had to be exhibited. Just this was proof that the Kraven had been warning them not to approach.
But since when had the human race taken instructions from Kraven? Bearin loudly popped his knuckles as they continued their approach, and Ness was sharpening her blade. Sohee's eyes were already emitted a purple glow as she readied her spells. The rest were also winding themselves up for the incoming fight.
As for Lex? It seemed like he was simply walking with his hands in his pocket, but internally he was debating. Should he risk using an array, or should he risk using Evisceration?
As the group walked up towards the Kraven, they spread out and assumed their proper formation. Ness, Bearin, Jade 2 and Tim were at the forefront, as they would be attacking. Behind them were Lex and Cwinheld. This was so that Lex could quickly move forward if he needed to block an attack, but mostly it was so that Lex could stop any attacks towards the rest behind him. Cwinheld was close enough to attack as needed, but also a step back so she could coordinate the group.
Behind the two were Jovi, Sohee and Jade 1, to provide support, with the rest farthest back as not only were they the weakest in terms of combat ability, their actual roles allowed them to work from a distance.
Lex recalled everything he had learnt about Kraven so far. First of all, other than the usual sight, sound and spirit sense, Kraven had another sense that made them extremely sensitive to any changes on the ground - whether it was the pressure of someone walking, the moisture from a single drop of sweat, the mild change in temperature due to body heat, all could be sensed by the Kraven.
Their superiority on the ground was unmatched, not because they could manipulate it, but because it basically served as another sensory organ for them. Furthermore, they were completely equipped to not only absorb all that information, they could fully process and act on that information in real time. This meant it was effectively impossible to ambush a Kraven unless one could fly.
Secondly, Kraven had an incredibly muscular structure, but in weaves and layers that somehow multiplied their strength. They had two legs and two arms, but a majority of the time they stood and moved using all their limbs, similar to a gorilla. In lieu of skin, their bodies were covered in a thick, gray leather like material. But, at all times, their bodies excreted and were covered in a viscous, black slime that moved around their bodies. Kraven could use and control that slime as they wished, but not only was it poisonous to almost every other living being, it was very selectively sticky.
That meant that normally the slime would not drip from the Kraven's body, but if a creature came close to it, the slime would latch on to their bodies and was almost impossible to take off conventionally. This way, the slime would often end up endlessly poisoning all of a Kraven's enemies.
Thirdly, Kraven's bones and joints functioned differently from humans, or most other creatures, for that matter. It had to be repeatedly emphasized that Kravens had a very muscular structure, but also that the muscles were layered in weaves, with the Kraven maintaining fine control over every single layer. What did this mean? It meant that while human limbs, for example, were limited in the directions they could move due to their joints, Kraven could move any limb in any direction it wanted whatsoever - a fact that made it incredibly difficult to predict their movements.
After all that, only a few minor details and specifics remained, such as nails that could cut through metal, teeth that could endlessly regrew matched with jaw strength that could allow it to eat a building, not to mention any individual strengths, talents, skills or affinities any individual Kraven may have. Also, its only physical weakness, its energy core, was hidden in its chest surrounded by a dense, metallic structure.
That's correct, its ONLY physical weakness. Even if you cut off a Kraven's head, or even went as far as dicing up its entire body, so long as the core existed, the Kraven would still be alive, and could eventually recover. It was this single fact that allowed the Kraven to fight the entire realm on their own, and still come up as the winning side. This was their own form of immortality, and some believed they were even superior to the Crystal race in this regard. Of course, the fact that the Kraven had not been able to affect the Crystal race in any way whatsoever said otherwise.
Lex took in a long, deep breath before slowly letting it out. This was the first time he was going to participate in killing an immortal - it was alright if he was slightly nervous.
As if Lex's sigh was the signal, the obviously preoccupied Kraven turned around, pointing its long ugly face towards them.
It growled aggressively, the sound causing the groups advance to slow as they coped with a sudden wave of dizziness.
Oh yeah, the Kraven could also launch spiritual attacks with their voice Lex suddenly remembered. It was not an overwhelmingly strong attack, but still an incredibly frustrating one to deal with, especially in the heat of battle.
He was so nonchalant because he was the only one unaffected by the spiritual attack, since his natural defense worked against all paths, body, spirit and soul.
The next moment, the fight abruptly started. There was no probe or buildup of any sort. The Kraven lunged towards the group, swinging its right arm to cleave the entire group in half with a single attack. Yet instead of the distracted humans affected by its growl, what awaited it was Lex, standing in its path with both his arms held forward.
This was yet another alteration he made to Talk to the Hand. By using the technique in both hands simultaneously and overlapping them with each other, he fused them together, making them much stronger.
The Kraven's attack landed on the barrier, but did not manage to break it! Lex was pushed back, his feet digging deep into the ground, his arms nearly buckling under the weight of the armageddon he just blocked, but he managed to hold.
Ness and Bearin raced past him as they kicked off the battle with their strongest attacks. Jovi, though slightly late, had used a technique to increase their resistance to spiritual attacks to prevent such mishaps in the future.
Ness and Bearin's technique did little more than cause the Kraven to stumble backwards, and as they attacked with their weapons, the ever vicious slime coating the Kraven's body absorbed the strength of their attacks. Just as it seemed that their weapons would get stuck in the slime, a familiar shriek filled the air, followed by purple purple ribbons flying through the air to surround the Kraven - Sohee was using one of the numerous attacks that made her profession as a witch so revered. It tried to dodge, sensing danger, but as it happened Tim was standing behind it, prepared.
A massive, fiery explosion occurred. While the Kraven remained unhurt, it had been slowed just enough for the purple ribbons to wrap around its body. The slime on its body sizzled and then was lit aflame in a purple fire.
The Kraven, in pain and angry, let out roar that shook the very ground, but its anger could do nothing about the fact that it had suddenly become naked of its slime!
Still, the roar disoriented the group once more, for even with Jovi's support, the effect of the spirit attacks had only been weakened, not eliminated.
The Kraven, still on fire, smashed down a palm to kill Tim, but Lex appeared once again in the nick of time. This time, Lex was using his shield to cover his body as he pushed Tim away just in time.
Still, without the barrier to block the attack, Lex would have to face the full brunt of the Kraven's anger - or so it seemed. When the Kraven's palm landed on the shield, instead of the expected sound of metal being crushed, only a solid thud was heard, followed by the sight of Lex sliding back, relatively unharmed.
Lex had used Ripple shell on the shield, so any impact on its surface was equally distributed over its body, making it easier for Lex to manage. But the fact Lex's left arm had dislocated said much about how successful that plan had been, and even more about Lex's own ridiculous endurance.
But there was no follow up attack for the split second it took the Kraven to attack Lex, Cwenhild had launched her own attack. The Kraven, of course, was not at all surprised by her attack and used its other arm to block her attack.
But she was Cwenhild, the daughter of a woman who dared to blackmail even the King, so how could her weapon be simple.
Her glaive encountered little resistance, and cut through the Kraven's hand like, well like a hot glaive through butter.
"WHAT THE SHIT?" the Kraven roared, genuinely surprised. But, for Lex at last, it's yell was by far the most surprising thing. Oddly enough, no one told him Kraven could talk.
But Lex didn't have time to be surprised, or enjoy Cwenhlid's successful attack, as a feeling of dread fell upon him.
"Ambush!" he roared, and used Home Sweet Home, throwing his body at full speed, just in time to block a black arrow with his shield, saving Cwenhild. But the rest of the group had not been so lucky, and their cries filled the air.
Unlike the first time they were attacked, when the arrow had all the indications of just being a normal attack, this time, the attack was silent, swift, and deadly. The group was too split up for Lex to defend them, and while he had perfectly dodged the arrow aiming for him and protected Cwenhild from hers, the rest of the group were left to defend themselves.
Surprisingly, Patrick had managed to dodge the arrow aiming for him perfectly, and even managed to save Silvia, the healer. Everyone else, however, was unable to dodge. Due to Lex's warning, they had dodged a fatal attack, but from Bearin to Ness to Jovi and the rest, everyone had suffered. Cindy and Jade 1 were hurt the worst, with the arrow tearing through their torsos, and were retreating with pale faces, only the fact that they were also body cultivators kept them from immediately collapsing.
The timing of the attack had been perfect, not only ensuring Lex was too far to help but also happened just as everyone was coping with the Kraven's spirit attack. Had it not been for Lex's warning, this simple surprise attack would have ended the entire group.
Very aware of the fact that an angry Kraven was right behind them, Lex leapt forward to get some distance while a furious Cwenhild searched for the attackers. Unexpectedly, they did not hide this time. Twelve figures covered from head to toe in black clothes, all holding bows stood a short distance from them.
She squinted. The number of attackers could not have been a coincidence. Someone had been aiming for them from the very start. But who was crazy enough to do that? Even if she cut her ties with her father, she still had her mothers support, not to mention that each one of the members of her group came from one powerful background or another.
If even a single one of them died, it was not something that could be suppressed, and there would be a full investigation, with Immortals at the lead.
But, it did not matter. They were in a tough spot now. Had there been no interference, they had a good chance of killing the Kraven. But with these assassins attacking from the back, they were done for.
"Lex, can you delay the Kraven?" she asked, desperately thinking of a plan.
"For a short time, sure."
"Give me five minutes," she said, as she stepped to the ground. From the moment he saved her, Lex had been running while carrying her.
"Five is pushing it, aim for 3. I'm just a man in the Foundation realm, and that's a Kraven in the Golden core. Every second I occupy his time is a miracle, technically."
Cwenhild snorted at Lex's remark. The urgency of the situation and her erupting anger did not mean she didn't notice the complete lack of anxiety or tension in his voice. It was not the tone of one praying for a miracle, but that of one who had the situation completely under control.
During their time together, she had noticed a mild resistance Lex exhibited when following her orders, though with time, he had managed to learn how to hide it better. But since she already knew what to look for, she always found it.
The look in his eyes, the way he stood, even the way he spoke all hinted at the fact that he was used to authority, backed by real power. It was ironic that he, the one sibling of hers who went without his family name, carried the nobility of his royal bloodline the best.
Even now, while he tried to hide the true extent of his abilities behind modest words, his temperament did not allow his diminishing words to actually diminish his image.
All of that was but a passing thought as Cwenhild turned her attention towards the assassins who were once again nocking their arrows, and bolted off. She yelled orders as she ran, quickly reorganizing the groups formation towards attacking the assassins, and allowing the injured to retreat.
Lex was left alone to deal with the Kraven. Speaking of which, Lex turned towards the Kraven in confusion - he was expecting a swift retaliation that never came. But he immediately realized why. The Kraven had picked up its hand and was reattaching it to its body, holding it in place with a lot of slime.
"You know, it actually never occurred to me that Kraven could talk. Though I guess everyone considered this knowledge too basic to even mention to me. Anyway, hi. I'm Lex. I think we got off on the wrong foot. Why don't we just talk this out. I've always been very curious about you Kraven, I have so many questions."
The Kraven looked at Lex with its head twisted, as if looking at something strange. Lex could see it trying to move the claws on its severed hand. It seemed the reattaching process was not so easy.
"It is because inferior races cannot understand our language, or tolerate the resonance our voice brings. How curious that you can understand."
A single claw flinched, but it had not yet perfected its movement.
"Resonance? Is that what causes the spiritual attack in your voice? What is that?" The Kraven didn't answer, and turned its head to look back at its arm. It was regaining movement.
"You're right, that's a bad question. Let's focus on other, more important questions. You see, I have a unique perspective when it comes to looking at the bigger picture. I can see things that others really can't. But I still don't understand - why are the Kraven at war with the whole realm? What's the point of fighting everyone?"
Lex was walking as he talked, positioning himself between the Kraven and the rest. In a rush to save Cwenhild, he had dropped his sword somewhere, but his shield was very much still in his hand.
"According to my teachers, you don't have a biological need driving you. You don't need to slaughter all the races endlessly for your own survival, and I doubt your resource consumption is so high that you need the whole realm."
The Kraven still did not talk. It had regained almost perfect control of its hand, and its body and slowly started to once again secrete the slime that usually covered it.
"Alright, if you don't…" Lex's next question was cut short by the Kraven bursting into motion. One moment it was still, the next it had the full speed and ferocity of an avalanche. It was not running towards Lex, though, and instead its eyes glared angrily towards Cwenhild. But, regardless of how abruptly it had moved, Lex had been expecting it.
Holding out both his hands, Lex appeared in its paths, causing the Kraven to smash directly into the barrier. Since it was a crash instead of an attack, Lex's barrier withstood the force with comparative ease, but Lex was still almost knocked over.
"Move out of the way, vermin!" the Kraven roared, still not even bothering to look at Lex.
"I can tell that you think you're a superior race," Lex said, his voice somehow managing to retain its sense of calm and curiosity, even as he ran to once again block the Kraven.
"But if that's the case, why are the Kraven allowing themselves to be used like puppets by all the races?"
The genuine innocence in Lex's voice as he asked was somehow more grating than the question itself.
"WE ARE NO ONES PUPPETS!" the Kraven roared, finally turning to look at Lex. "THE ENTIRE REALM TREMBLES BENEATH OUT MIGHT!"
Lex should not have considered attracting the creature's fury an accomplishment, as the Kraven smashed towards Lex's barrier with both hands, this time firmly breaking it!
Lex tried to jump back, but one of its claws firmly landed on his chest, cutting his armor to ribbons. Three ugly gashes cut open on his chest - though he did not bleed, for slime had covered them up! Well, it was a good thing he had Ripple shell used on himself the entire time, or instead of a few gashes, he would have a hole in his body. Of course, that single attack had destroyed the shell, so unless he used the technique again, it was best not to get hit.
Lex grimaced. The Kraven's brute strength was already a hassle to face, but its claws were just too damn deadly. As for the slime… Lex looked down, then ignored it. If he tried to pull it off, it would only glue his hand to his chest. The slime would slowly poison him, but he should have some resistance to poison.
He would be able to get rid of it if he used an array, but the Kraven would not give him the time to form one. He really needed to practice with them more.
"Oh yes, the realm is firmly at war with the Kraven, and everyone is losing, and there's so much fear," Lex said blandly, as if he was that water was wet.
"And yeah, you managed to somehow take over the territory of an entire race. But since then, what have you done? There's constant progress, but it's slow. The threat of the Kraven is ever present, but you know…"
Lex used Talk to the Hand with both hands, but also jumped back as the Kraven attacked once again. He couldn't dodge too much or the Kraven would go towards Cwenhild, but he also couldn't take head-on attacks. Why was life so hard?
"But you know, like I said, I have a different perspective on things. Between all the fear, the propaganda, the fighting and mobilizing all the races' strength to fight against the Kraven, all you've really achieved… is strengthening the reign of each of the races respective King. After all, before the Kraven, none of the races had ever banded together to form a unified nation. Now… well yes, you take land each year, but it seems to me that the humans at least put up just enough resistance to slow down your approach to an acceptable level. Speaking just for the humans, all you've really done is strengthen the King's control on these lands. I can tell that much just by studying the basic history for the last few hundred years, so others should be able to tell that much as well, right? Which is why I asked… why are the Kraven acting like puppets?"