The Path of the Strongest Mortal, page 17
“Notrix, come to my office. Now,” he ordered.
Two minutes later, the door opened, and a young, short-haired elf with freckles on his face entered the office.
“You called me, boss?” Notrix asked, saluting.
“For the last time, call me Marx,” he retorted and gave the intern a glare. “Now, listen carefully. I have a task for you. Here’s a Crystal with my memories of Malvur, a peak-level Exorcist giant who’s even more talented than both of us. He’s an aristocrat with a human slave, you’re not allowed to touch or talk to either of them. I need you to keep an eye on them. Your main task is to always know their whereabouts. You’ll report to me daily, not through the Ring but this artifact.” Marx summoned a small Royal-rank amulet to the table. “If you fail, I’ll consider my time spent on your training wasted.”
“Got it, bo— Marx. Is he a criminal? Do you suspect he’s involved with something? What if he’s in danger?” Notrix, whose eyes immediately lit up with interest, bombarded his boss with questions.
“No, he’s not a criminal. And I need him alive. We can say that he’s my lucky ticket to the big league...” Marx smiled. “For you, this is an opportunity to reduce the required internship period and get the first rank as soon as possible. That’s it, you’re free to go. They’ve only just stepped into the territory of our kingdom, so you can take your time, but don’t wait for too long.”
“Understood!” Notrix exclaimed with a smile and saluted.
***
“Finally,” Malvur breathed out as soon as they put a couple of miles between themselves and the garrison. From arrogant and uptight, he again became restrained and even somewhat gloomy.
“What’s the matter?” Kai asked, deactivating the Fake Face Technique.
Malvur looked at him.
“I hate this,” he answered after a pause. “My race is more interested in power. Many of our aristocrats have forgotten about the true path of cultivation. They only rely on their legacy. But they don’t contribute. Their path was replaced by pride. I always have to pretend. That’s not how a cultivator’s supposed to behave. But when you’re talking to officials like that Marx guy, you have to play by their rules. Otherwise, you’ll lose. That’s why I have to get stronger. This is the only way they’ll have to play according to my rules, the rules of strength.”
“I understand, Malvur,” Kai said. “And, as I promised, you’ll continue your development... No, all of us will. All that we need is to get into the Cloud Abode. Come, let’s make a campfire and wait for Shacks...”
And so they did.
It took the archer two days to arrive.
“Man, am I glad to see you!” Shacks exclaimed.
“Why are you late?” Kai asked.
“Because those elves are racist fucks!” Shacks exclaimed.
“Really? You don’t say?”
“The fuckers made me wait a few more hours in another line, and then they sent me to the slammer for nothing! They told me to wait until they confirmed my identity. Because of course they’ll see a human Exorcist and immediately think he’s a usurper or something! After that, they interrogated me a bunch of times. At least they had the decency not to beat the shit out of me while doing so... They let me through when they realized that I was in the top ten in the Fist Fight. And just when I thought I was clear, boom, they took the eleven thousand Crystals that I had on me. You know why? Because a human shouldn’t have money! And then they laughed at my threats to sue them, saying that only the citizens of the kingdom could do that, and added that I should be grateful that they didn’t confiscate everything else. Because, you never know, maybe I stole it!”
“Are you done throwing a hissy fit?” Kai asked, raising an eyebrow.
“...I am.” Shacks sighed. “I just had to get it outta me, man.”
“You should’ve agreed to his plan,” Malvur said, nodding at Kai.
“Maybe. But I at least don’t have a mark.”
“What mark?” Kai asked with a slight smile and pulled back his hood.
“How did you...?” Shacks was surprised to see nothing on Kai’s forehead. The mark was placed inside the head, but it was projected as a symbol on the slave’s forehead to make it easier to find them in the crowd. “Don’t answer that. I’ve had enough surprises for one day.” He waved his hand and then froze.
He frowned, then looked somewhere to his right. After staring into the thick of the forest for several seconds, he turned back.
“What’s there?” Kai and Malvur were alert.
“It’s nothing, I must’ve imagined it,” Shacks answered as if nothing had happened. “So, what are we going to do now?”
***
The trio was heading east for the second day now. Their target was Darden, the largest city in the area. There lived as many as seven aristocratic families, each of which had at least two Holy Lords, as well as a sect, which was also led by a cultivator of the same level. But they weren’t the ones that interested them, no. What they were after were those with the mark.
They traveled not on foot, but with the help of one of Shacks’ artifacts — the Flying Ship. However, here, it could raise only a few feet above the ground. There was too much prana in this world, which was why even the most powerful airship of the Celestial Plateau took an incredible amount of ki from the person driving it. This is why flying vessels weren’t common here.
Only Holy Lords could fly in Nikrim. All the rest simply didn’t have enough ki, no matter how well they had mastered the Forces of Air or Space.
Even so, Shacks’ ship developed tremendous speed, and what was supposed to be a six-day long journey promised to take half the time. If they didn’t stop anywhere, that is. And although nobody wanted it, they still had to stop.
For their path was blocked by bandits.
Chapter 18
THE GRAY GANG
The Gray Gang, as the locals called it, had been robbing for more than nine years near the border and in the Darden district. However, what distinguished these outlaws from many others was that the Grays were careful and avoided locals and VIPs, which saved them from the unwanted attention of the kingdom’s guards, who already had enough work to do, and allowed them to operate for so long. All of this was why the young Silvyr, who had only recently reached the Source Creation level, joined them. He didn’t want to get involved with either aristocrats or the military. And since many of his acquaintances were already members of the Grays, he didn’t see why he shouldn’t join them.
“So, how old are you?” one of the bandits asked the newbie.
“Forty-eight,” Silvyr replied. For his race and level, with his life span of two hundred and fifty years, he looked pretty young and could be proud of his achievements.
Sitting in a tent hidden deep in the woods, six Grays played a rather complex game with a large number of cards and as many combinations as there were stars in the sky. But for cultivators with their amazing memory, remembering a book-worth of rules, cards, and combinations wasn’t hard at all, so overall their poker-like game was a fun way to swindle an opponent of all of their belongings in one night or less.
“Just a baby,” said another elf and chuckled. “Are you planning to reach the Exorcist Stage?”
“I am, and, perhaps, someday, I’ll be able to become one of the leaders of this gang!”
With his speed of development, Silvyr couldn’t be called a prodigy, but he was still talented. Almost everyone sitting around him was at the Soul Stage and about a hundred years old or even older. Thus, none of them would ever be able to reach the true level of a master.
“Hmm...” The oldest of the Grays in the tent frowned. “Are you from the east? Or from Udin?”
The elves in Tael, according to a tradition honoring one of the saviors of their race, were given names ending in “x.” And although some named their children differently, the majority still adhered to this tradition.
However, during the warring period, a small part of Tael far to the east was captured by the dorgans and was under their rule for almost ten centuries. The elven culture in these lands suffered, and almost ceased to exist. The same was in Udin, where most of the inhabitants were elves.
“My great-grandfather once lived in the east,” Silvyr answered, head slightly sinking between his shoulders.
“I see...” the elf drawled, making Silvyr tense up even more. But before his comrade could continue sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, one of the guards rushed into the tent, interrupting their conversation and card game.
“Target in sight!” he blurted out, drawing everyone’s attention. “Something’s moving toward Darden. I shit you not, it’s a flying ship. Must be some kind of an ancient relic. But that’s not the point!” He shook his head as if to get these unnecessary thoughts out of it. “The point is that our search artifact was able to detect an insane amount of energy on it! It’s moving quickly, but if we manage to reach the second checkpoint by tomorrow, we’ll arrive in time to intercept it! We’re moving out now. Boss’ orders.”
His words gave rise to a cheerful murmur. Everyone was looking forward to work.
“And who’s on it?” Silvyr asked timidly.
“Oh, yeah!” The elf, who had almost gotten out of the tent, turned sharply. “Apparently, there are two Exorcists, and a cultivator at the Source Creation level. Don’t worry about it, all thirteen of our brass are Exorcists. By the way, don’t forget to protect your mind, otherwise, you’ll be completely lost when the leaders activate their Master’s Will. Come on now, time to move out!”
***
The airship was surrounded. It couldn’t move any further due to numerous traps that had been laid out on the road.
“Hey bastards, can you hear us?!” the leader of the Fourth Squad shouted, voice amplified with energy. “If you want to get out of here alive, get out one by one, with your hands where I can see them! We’ll take your Rings and everything else of value in exchange for your lives.”
Thunderous laughter shook the crowd.
“You have a minute. If you don’t surrender, we’ll attack. You won’t get a second chance.”
A few seconds later, the first passenger of the vessel disembarked. Shacks walked down the plank slowly and calmly as if no one threatened him. He looked at the elves from a height, annoyance and contempt visible on his face.
“They’re mine,” he told his companions in a slightly annoyed tone, and then shifted his gaze to the bandits. “You know... I’ve had it up to here with you elves. I’ve had a rough couple of days, and I’m just sick and tired of you people wasting my goddamn time.”
Taking a step off the plank, he disappeared, and instantly reappeared next to the squad’s leader with his dagger hilt-deep in the elf’s chest.
Overcoming confusion and surprise, the elves yelled and attacked. The ones nearest showered him with techniques, not caring about the body of their fallen comrade. Alas, none of them were destined to hurt the archer whose body suddenly turned into a mist that engulfed the entire area in the blink of an eye. The fog was so dense that you couldn’t see an inch past your nose. This technique also suppressed the aura and made it difficult to navigate.
But it didn’t dampen sounds.
Screams of pain, followed by those of horror, were heard one after another. The bandits didn’t understand what was happening until Shacks’ daggers reached them.
After a few seconds of carnage, a powerful blow made the ground shudder, and the fog partially dispersed. This was followed by a strong wind, which cleared up the field and revealed several dozen of Shacks’ clones running around and killing the elves. Enraged, the Exorcists that had created the tremor and the wind ran to avenge their fallen comrades.
Quickly determining where the real one was (right where they had left him), the first elf activated an Earth technique and closed the distance between him and Shacks, while the second, using Wind, covered him from a distance.
Shacks just grinned and opened his eyes. He had used the time while elves were busy with his clones to merge the Arrow and the Mist Spirits. Their fusion increased his speed significantly.
“Arrow Blast Technique,” he whispered before disappearing.
In the next moment, the Exorcist heading for the ship was tossed aside, as if colliding with a wall at full speed, and his comrade’s technique was destroyed by a hail of green arrows that went through it and hit the elf in the chest, after which Shacks appeared behind him.
Apart from Kai and Malvur, only one other person saw Shacks turn into a bunch of arrows, destroy the technique, hit its owner, and reassume his human form.
An Exorcist appeared next to Shacks the moment he finished his attack, ready to strike. His battle-ax whistled through the air and chopped the archer’s head off, but the elf’s triumph was momentary. Shack’s body turned into mist in front of his eyes.
Do they really think that an archer will engage anyone in close combat unless he’s disarmed? Idiots... the real Shacks thought with a grin. Invisible, he stood on the ship’s bow and observed the fight.
He kept playing with the Exorcist, sending clones at him until the moment the cultivator failed to notice that the fog stayed where a clone he had just killed used to be. Slowly, it swirled into the shape of a human. Grinning, Shacks swung his blades and pierced the elf’s thigh, making him growl in pain. Instead of turning around to attack, the Exorcist jumped to the side, avoiding two more arrows at the last moment. What the elf didn’t know, however, was that this clone was different from the rest in that it wasn’t made of fog. It was an actual clone made of energy that Shacks controlled. Furthermore, since it was almost completely identical to the real deal and gained its energy directly from Shacks (unlike others that had a defined amount of energy), it, too, had traces of the Spirits’ power. It could also turn into fog, which allowed it to move around despite obstacles. Shacks couldn’t use this ability since his body couldn’t transform into fog without getting damaged.
The Exorcist backed away into the forest to catch his breath and come to his senses. Looking around the battlefield, he realized that they were outnumbered. He couldn’t believe that one measly human had single-handedly managed to deal with three hundred cultivators, and kill two out of their thirteen Exorcists.
This was supposed to be easy! he cursed. The ship didn’t bear the coat of arms of an aristocratic family, sect, or military. Not to mention that, according to the artifact, there were only three people inside, none of whom had the mark of the guest of honor of the kingdom. How the fuck is this guy so strong?!
Getting back to his feet, he summoned the Earth Forces, and slammed the ground with his fists. Pillars of stone shot up from the ground in a straight line, killing a dozen clones.
“Indestructible Stone Robe!” he shouted, continuing his attack. His body was covered with a layer of stone, reinforced with energy and Forces that saved him from the arrow that knocked him down. But Shacks never missed his target. The arrow turned into a clone that drove a dagger into the narrow slit in the stone cover. At the last second, the elf managed to push the clone away, but he had lost an eye.
“Shit!” he swore. At this rate, Shacks would break through his defenses.
The next instant, he had to dodge again; this time to avoid the technique created by the clone.
Few knew, but Shacks was perhaps the only member of the Bright Moon Clan capable of using five Ideal Mist Clones at once. Any Elementalist could create dozens of them, but they couldn’t control them all at the same time. Not with precision and speed that Shacks could, at least. The reason why he could do this was his ability to manifest his soul into the real world, called the Multiple Streams of Consciousness. With it, he could divide his soul and mind into several parts, each of which acted autonomously and simultaneously with the others. So far, his limit was six.
Tired of sitting inside, Kai climbed to the top of the ship to admire the view and get a front-row seat for this spectacle.
He knew how powerful Shacks was so it didn’t surprise him to see that the archer had managed to deal with two of the strongest opponents with Mist Clones that were now running around killing the rest of the elves. Not only did his opponents not have time to defend themselves, but they also killed their own friends while they were trying to do so.
Overall, it could be explained by the fact that Shacks’ techniques were more powerful, that he was more experienced, and that he had a better understanding of the Forces. But even that wouldn’t be enough without his great amount of energy.
Due to his energy vision, Kai knew that Shacks’ average ki supply was about one thousand four hundred and ten units. But in this fight, he had merged it with two Spirits, and increased it up to five thousand one hundred and seventy.
For comparison, the elves with their energy trait had about a thousand and fifty at the initial-level Exorcist Stage, somewhere around one thousand six hundred at the middle level, two thousand one hundred at the end-level, and about two thousand six hundred at the peak level.
Malvur also got out of the ship and was now looking with considerable interest at how the archer’s clones were dealing with elves. Being a peak-level Exorcist and a genius he was, he also had a very high ki supply: around two thousand and four hundred.
I need to get even stronger if I don’t want to be behind these cheaters… Kai thought, observing all this. My three hundred and sixty-five look like a high schooler picking a fight with a professional fighter… Then again, it’s quality over quantity…
Suddenly, something bright flashed on his left. Someone had finally remembered to attack the ship instead of its owner. Unfortunately for them, a wall of ice blocked their technique.
“Time to wrap it up,” Kai told Shacks. “They’ve probably called for reinforcement by now. Sorry, pal, but I’ll have to crash your party.”
Shacks said nothing, only rolled his eyes as if to say “fine, whatever.”
Red snow began to fall on the battlefield. This was the result of merging the Forces of Sword with Bloody Snowfall, a technique Kai had invented alongside the Step Through Snow Technique.
