The man stared at me silently for so long that I thought Ethereal Convocation had stopped working. When Xerxes stepped in between my legs and up to the man he responded.

  "Uh th-thank you honorable stranger." He began and I held up a hand stop him.

  "Just speak freely. I have no interest in hurting you or taking anything you own. I am going to assume that you either don't have your token or your token is the same as the other three."

  His eyes went wide and then he nodded so fast that I thought his head would fall off. "Yes, yes very wise indeed. I entered in this part of the forest. How could the small baubles I have be of interest to the distinguished young master."

  I stared at him and then turned to Xerxes. "Right, right can you confirm something for me. Is Prince Scythan the third prince?"

  He shook his head. "No, he is the second."

  I rubbed my chin and paced around the clearing. "Are they ranked by power or by age?"

  "Uh neither. It is based on favor from the King. Prince Scythan is actually the eldest sibling. It is unknown which of the three is strongest."

  "Interesting. Which of them is the wealthiest?"

  Now the man began to squirm. He searched the dirt in front of him as if it would tell him the answer. It wasn't hard to guess what he was thinking which also meant he was useless to me. "Scratch that no need to answer. I am going to leave and I would like you to deliver a message for me. Let them know what happened here and if they would like to get revenge they are welcome to find me. Oh and let them know that I am the person who fought the third prince earlier."

  The man's face went through a series of expression. From eagerness to outright terror. By the time I was finished he looked like I had just handed him off to the executioner. "Just tell people what happened and what I look like. The rest of the details I leave to your discretion. You can even use the information for benefits if you come up with a way to do so."

  I gave the man a healing pill but I wasn't sure if it was to make me feel better or him. Regardless I pushed the man from my mind and sprinted off into the forest. We ran until we came across a spot to rest. The area looked mostly "normal" the grass only had a slight red tint and wasn't wet nor slimy. It was still overgrown so it wasn't exactly an ideal camping spot. There were three trees surrounding the clearing that gave cover from each direction.

  It wouldn't hide us completely but it would help. "Alright, lets rest here for a bit. We can recover our energy and get ready for a real battle."

  Xerxes snorted before laying in the grass. "Good fight. Today has been very boring."

  I shrugged at that. I couldn't really disagree with it and I could understand why he wouldn't be happy about it. "There would be plenty of time for real fights so no need to worry."

  I sat down and went through my new treasure hall. The trio didn't have much. There weapons were higher quality than what we had access to but that was about it. The few resources they had were found in the bloody section of the forest. Which was good. The Eye of Heaven helped me divide the stuff into low quality and middle quality things. Mostly based on the amount of energy they held. That and how stable those treasures were. I kept the divide as I placed the gear back into the ring. Most of it anyway.

  I kept two weird looking fruits. They both kind of looked like candy apples. Though just behind the hard skin was a blood red liquid. Both of them made my cells ache and I was pretty sure I knew what they were. They were attribute fruits. Though I couldn't tell which attribute it would improve. I tossed the bigger of the pair to Xerxes. I figured he could use the bigger boost since my attributes were already insane.

  "Well bottoms up." I opened my mouth and took a bite. The skin cracked and the sweetest liquid flooded into my mouth. I hated how tasty it was. I finished the fruit in a three bites and part of me wished that I had another. Energy surged into and threw my body. I pulled up my status screen and nodded. My constitution rating increased by two which considering where we were made some sense.

  "Did you enjoy the fruit?" I asked as I turned to face Xerxes.

  "*More food!*"

  He practically roared in my mind. I rolled my eyes and tossed him another piece of meat. "If you keep eating like this you are going to get fat."

  We stared at each other for a moment before he snorted. I rolled my eyes and he went back to eating. I resisted the urge to laugh at him before settling in. I circulated the **Ethereal Convocation** and let myself slip into meditation.

  We sat there for several hours before a passive sense of danger filled the air. I ended my cultivation session and got to my feet. I couldn't be completely sure but it seemed like one of the princes had come to find us. Or at least some of their people. I opened the eye and infused it with spiritual energy. Sure enough five figures lit up in the distance. The middle most figure was stronger than the other four but not overly so. Which made me think it was a kill squad and not the actual person.

  They would be here soon which meant it was showtime. "Xerxes new friends are on their way. Are you ready to greet them?"

  Xerxes looked at me, tossed his head back and let out a roar. He then unleashed a surprisingly condensed aura. It felt like it was nearing level 30 though it was hard to guess beast levels properly. I got to my feet and cracked my neck. I wished I could see what kind of stuff they had in their bags.

  "Alright, you run interference for their martials. I will do crowd control." I transmitted a series of images through our connection to explain what I meant. I couldn't be sure he actually understood but he did move in front of me. So I considered that a win. I considered setting up a few traps just in case but I had no idea how nor did I have anything that could hurt people like us.

  I watched them get closer and then their auras disappeared. They couldn't block their spiritual energy but it was still weird. At first I thought it was the environment but the effect got stronger as they got closer. "Are they trying to hide from us?" I had to resist the urge to laugh. Instead I pulled out my waterskin and leaned against a tree. I lowkey wished that I had a table to set up just to really hammer home the uselessness of the situation.

  I took the time to circulate my energy as I waited for them. By the time they appeared I was almost bored. The leader landed closely followed by the four others. The look of surprise and curiosity on their faces made my preparation more than worth it. The four in the back wore the same armor that the trio from earlier did. Only they wore their helmets. Their leader's armor was much higher quality and his bird's color scheme was inverted.

  The leader was also the only one not wearing a helmet. His head was bald and his right eye was milky white without a pupil. He looked at me for a moment before shifting his attention to Xerxes.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "That is a Qilin. How exciting. The prince has given me some measure of judgement over your fate. If you hand over your pet as well as your token. We will only take your right arm as payment for the deaths of our fellows."

  I stared at him blankly for a moment and then gazed at Xerxes. "Well do you want to go with the strange man?" I mockingly asked.

  "*Can I eat that one*?"

  He sent a mental image of the woman on the far right. The idea of letting him eat a person still kind of felt weird but a fights a fight. "*Sure have fun*"

  "I am not sure what you are doing but the Prince has been kind enough to extend me these privileges. Do not make me regret extending them to you."

  "I am sorry what's your name?" I interrupted. "This will be a lot easier if I have an actual name for you. It will stop me from calling you something rude in my mind."

  "You may refer to me as Tamais. I must insist upon your answer now. The prince did not give us all the time of this trial to settle this issue."

  I nodded. "Of course, of course oh right which token do you have? Just for information gathering purposes."

  A small vein protruded from the man's temple and for a moment I thought he would just attack. To his credit though he didn't. "We have the one from the swamp lands. It resembles some sort of chimeric frog."

  I scanned his armor but I didn't see any signs of the actual token. "Don't tell me your prince takes the tokens from you all? Oh right about your offer. Unfortunately Xerxes here doesn't want to go with you. I also have no interest in giving up the tokens I've collected."

  Tamais reacted as if my words had physical weight. As if they had somehow slapped him across the face. Confusion transformed into fury as he drew a long rapier from his bag. The others moved as well. Three of them drew blades while the fourth conjured a fireball in her palm. Spiritual energy surged into the several sigils, one after the other. First **Inverted Dimension**, then **Realm of Consciousness**, then **Manifestation of Perfection**.

  Space trembled as the world around else was replaced with one of my design. The rage in Tamais' eyes was replaced with concern for just a moment. "Activate the formation!" He called out. The mists of **Realm of Consciousness** had hidden him from back up. Which meant it was time time for me to get to work. Six invisible blades formed a halo above me. Before I could launch them something strange happened.

  A stream of pure spiritual energy sailed from the four guards into Tamais. I quickly put two and two together and realized that whatever formation they were using didn't need senses to work. It would just go to the proper location. I made a mental note to find a way to deal with that weakness later. I considered stopping him but a part of me wanted to see just how strong this formation would be.

  If this guard could use it then the princes likely could as well. Which meant I needed to be prepared. I also just wanted to fight it. The transformation he underwent was fascinating. Outwardly he looked the same but the energy going through his body was insane. It was like he had just jumped more than ten levels. I didn't think he had entered the next realm but he was pretty close.

  Unfortunately for him he still couldn't see. I unleashed all six blades at him only for him to trigger a skill. A barrier made out of crackling black energy formed just as my attack arrived. Unlike the trio this barrier completely blocked my attack. I grinned when I saw that I might get to have some fun.

  "*I am going to deal with important one. Try to take out the others if you can. Hide in mist. Don't let them hit you.*"

  Xerxes roared his response and took off toward the group. Who hadn't moved. I pushed them to the back of my mind and focused on **Manifestation of Perfection**. The diamond's light grew more intense and Tamais began to waver. Uncertainty crossed his features before he shook his head. He then raised his sword and unleashed a beam of pure spiritual energy. A laser of darkness blasted through the mist and through the wall of **Inverted Dimension**.

  My connection to the spell grew weaker but it wasn't destroyed. "Very impressive. The other three weren't strong enough to do that nor were they strong enough to defend against me earlier." I taunted while launching another sextuplet of blades. He avoided two of the blades while the other four caught in his torso.

  "Come on. Don't tell me that's all you got Tamais. Your prince is going to be so disappointed."

  Tamais gritted his teeth. "I will carve out your lungs and hang them from your body for thirty days."

  "That sounds like the bloody eagle." I cocked my head to the side. For a moment I wondered if our fairytales and myths were just cultivators that were on earth briefly. I put that thought to the back of my mind when Tamais activated another skill. This time he sunk into a pool darkness at his feet and reappeared twenty feet away. He was further away from me than he was before so I wasn't worried but it was proof that he had unlocked quite a few of his skills.

  My mind went back to that massive bolt of lightning from the third prince. I was about to activate Psionic Rain to further test him when I noticed something odd. His other soldiers refused to activate any of their skills. Even once Xerxes started attacking. "Oh don't tell me that they are giving you their energy? Well that's ass."

  I seriously considered unleashing a dozen attacks on the squad but didn't. One it wouldn't be any fun and two I wanted Xerxes to get the kill energy. They should give him at least a couple levels. Instead I activated a compressed **Psionic Rain**. Blades rained down and I expected him to trigger the shield again but instead he imbued his blade with darkness. I couldn't tell which strand it was probably shadows or something similar. He launched a thrust toward the indigo sun and like something out of an apocalypse movie it was consumed. Inky blackness surrounded it until both it and its blades were gone.

  The abruptness of it was startling. "How did you do that?" I know he wouldn't respond but it didn't matter. Based on how much energy went into my spell I doubted he could do that again. At least not easily. I activated **Psychic Blast** and unleashed a beam of psychic energy. The attack washed over him in a second. He screamed and then the energy in his body surged. Once again a black sphere enveloped him but before I could prepare my next attack a scream of danger caused me to dive to the ground.

  I narrowly avoided an explosion of utter darkness. I felt my connection to all three of my spell end and the world shattered. For a moment I thought we had been thrown into a literal abyss. The defensive array in my robes was overrun in an instant. My skin felt like death itself had pressed boney needles into every cell. Pain shot down my bond with Xerxes making it clear that we both had endured the attack.

  Another scream of danger forced me to roll just before a sword slammed into the earth. I locked eyes with Tamais and he was utterly furious. I formed the largest sphere of compressed space I could manage and shot it at him. I was sure that it would hit and at least force him back. Instead he bent backwards until he was nearly parallel with the ground.

  The feat was impossible by all laws of physics I had ever understood yet this man just did it. I activated Psychic Aegis in its wall form just as he righted himself. I imbued the spell with the Tao of Adamance just as he imbued his blade with some piercing Tao. I rolled to my feet just as his rapier punched straight through the shield. "Alright! Now this is what I wanted!"

  He withdrew his blade and I conjured another six blades. Three of which were visible. I take a moment to check in with Xerxes who had lost most of his momentum. The others hadn't managed to turn the tables yet but it was much more even. I turned my attention back to Tamais and laughed. Time seemed to slow to crawl as the thrust a blade cloaked in darkness at me. I gave up on Psychic Aegis and instead brought all six blades together. All six shot forward to meet his attack.

  When they met it was like the world exploded. The confusing mix of colors blinded me or rather almost blinded me. I closed my natural eyes and sent spiritual energy into the Eye of Heaven. A familiar sensation filled my mind and I knew exactly what to do. I gave up on energy manipulation and summoned two swords from my rings. Before I had a chance to think about what I was doing I launched myself at Tamais. I slammed into him like an NFL linebacker. We hit the ground. Instead of imbuing the blades with the Tao of Compression I created a spot at their tips. A spit where space was crushed to a pinpoint.

  I slammed both blades into his chest just before pain exploded in my left side. I turned the blade in his chest and something inside me popped. A spider web crack of space spread out from the wound until Tamais' body shattered like glass. The most spiritual energy I had ever felt surged into my dantian like a tsunami. Utter bliss mixed with the trill of battle in my mind as I turned my attention to the other four.

  "Master!"

  Xerxes' voice traveled down our connection but it felt distant. Like he was calling to me down a long hallway. Not that it mattered. I got to my feet and formed a halo of blades above me. I unleashed all six at the remaining warriors. There was only three targets? My vision blurred just as all six slammed into their targets. Suddenly the ground rose up to meet me. I tried to push energy into the sigil for aegis but the skill was on cool down.

  "Heal!"

  I summoned a pill bottle from my ring but my hands had gone numb. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and prepared for another attack only to realize it was Xerxes. I grinned. "We won" Then the world went dark.