A bright grey-whitish full moon peaked from behind the gloomy clouds of the dark night.
The fluffy dark clouds brought down rain like sheets of mist to the ground. The moon had a dull grey illumination which made the night seem hazy and dream-like. Raindrops rapidly hit the cobble stones producing flecks of water splashes which reflected the dull moonlight for a millisecond then disappeared like a fleeing firefly.
The soft murmur of the rain and the ambient sound of the gentle splashes made for a cold tranquil calming atmosphere.
Hartley stood ram rod straight on the empty street staring ahead, clumps of wet black hair was stuck to his face as streaks of water raced down from his forehead to his chin and dripped onto his soaked dark robe. From the soles of his feet to his knee transformed to a dull blue color as if his feet were now made of hard crystal. Tendrils of thin smoke-like mist rose from his legs wriggling a couple centimeters upwards then disappeared as thin blue lightning sparks would intermittently appear and crackle across his blue legs.
He dashed forward! The gentle explosion of air left behind a dry spot of 5 meters in radius where no raindrops penetrated, stood in the middle of the rain-less spot was a life-like after image of Hartley standing straight and staring forward.
By the time the after image faded away like smoke in the wind, Hartley was stood three kilometers away in a remote place facing the high walls of the Pembroke province. His Star feet technique had surpassed his gravity steps by three folds and he could change direction at any time.
He stood still, closed his eyes and concentrated, he could now sense 600 meters around him, he could sense any movement or sound as if he was standing right next to what was happening. That's because the range of his gravity field have been doubled to 600 meters and he could now apply 40x gravity, the downward pressure of such a force could crunch a giant tree to splinters. Hartley's eyes flicked open suddenly.
All the color drained from the world, the raindrops and splashes all stopped in place. Twenty meters around Hartley, the monochrome world was in a state of suspended animation, everything could be seen in exquisite details, from the water molecules separated at the end of the splashes to the oval shaped ripples on each drop of rain as it fought the wind resistance on its way down.
Hartley, the only mobile thing in this black and white portrait felt like the only being that existence on the mortal plain. He started counting mentally. One..... Two..... Three... Then whooosh! all the dark hazy color returned to the world, the ambient noises of the rain and splashes on the floor could now be heard again .
Hartley's budding time domain range had increased by 5 meters and the duration increased by one second. As of now Hartley had just stepped onto the lower rungs of the top echelon experts in the country of Aidonia. he might be able to squeeze into the top 600 right now. It was an amazing unknown achievement baring in mind that he was round about 17 years old and the Aidonia country had a population of about two hundred million people.
In reality Hartley should not be compared with people on the mortal plain, because of his mixed blood and his origins he should be compared ot people from the higher plain of Diyu. In Diyu he would be one of the weakest in his age group, fortunately he had time to amass his strength on this plain and his speed of progress assisted by the blue star fragment was tremendous, so there's a chance to catch and match people from Diyu in the future.
He flashed forward and appeared back in the dark wet empty streets of the Rema district. He sent out his awareness to see if there was anyone watching, when he confirmed there was no one watching he walked up the wall of the hotel to his room window and returned.
The following days passed peacefully as Hartley and company rested and recharged for the next leg of their journey. With the looming threat of the attack by the Hung clan, activities in the Rema district became less bustling. The streets still had many pedestrians and private carriages but not as busy as it was when they first arrived.
It was the fourth day since they had arrived in the Rema district Zhi Ruo still cultivated her knife strikes under the constraint of Hartleys gravity field in the privacy of the inn and had been improving steadily, they cultivated together and used the rest of the time to frequent the shops and restaurants where they were greeted with wide smiles. The uncertainty in the air had caused people to not be as generous with their spending, causing head aches for the managers.
"What are you looking for?" A blonde girl a head or two shorter than Hartley came over with a perfect flirtatious smile. She was about Ruo's age and wearing a tight pink dress which hugged her curves. Her massive twin peaks stood pointing forward and portions of pale flesh could be seen bulging out of the neckline of the dress. "I...I..I" Hartley awkwardly tried to answer and not to look at the woman's chest, but somehow his eyes always drifted back to the region.
Hartley's body went rigid as Zhi Ruo came over and grabbed onto his arm like she was marking her territory, she stood close to him clinging onto his arm, "He's here helping me to pick out some dresses" Zhi Ruo answered nonchalantly while pointing her nose to the sky. She was obviously not putting the girl in her eyes. It was now the blonde girl's turn to be awkward as she forced a fake smile at Ruo while glancing at Hartley sheepishly.
"There is a red dress at the left corner at the back, I would like to see it." Zhi Ruo ordered just like a real snobby noble. The blonde awkwardly looked at Hartley hoping he would say something.
"What are you waiting for" barked Zhi Ruo, the girl immediately got skipping to the back of the store.
Ruo then turned her head to give Hartley the death stare and through gritted whispered "Just you wait."
Hartley's eyes bulged and he made a big gulp "Ruo..Ruo I did nothing" he pleaded. "Oh yeah...what were you looking at? it weren't her face was it?" Ruo accused.
Hartley knew he was busted so he just stood there and accepted Ruo's death stares as he watched Ruo giving the blonde girl the most spiteful run around like a spoiled princess.
These normal moments with Ruo when she acted jealous and overbearing made him smile, over the past couple of days as they had been shopping he had seen more and more of these moments. From her glow of joy when she purchased the dress she liked to the puppy eyes she gave him when she picked out clothes for him that he didn't like.
Now for the first since leaving the mountain Hartley wondered if it was the right decision, could he had just stayed in the Waltham province and lived happily ever after with Ruo?. Did he have the right to drag his beloved across the country through countless danger? Was his desire to make his mark on the world immature? Was he selfish? Was this quest just the dream of a boy who didn't fit in? Now that he was with Ruo didn't he finally find somewhere where he fitted in?
He was awoken from his introspection as Ruo yanked his right arm and led him out of the store at a brisk pace still giving him death stares.