As Xing Lei darted around the corners, diving into some whenever he heard a smattering if elvish ahead he knew he had to escape the city. Part of him wanted to get Fleet Spear first but considering the arch mage sent her off with her troops, chances were high they'd keep her from him. The other difficulty was wondering how many elves were in on the conspiracy, hell, how many even knew their strange companion was here for her kobold mate? Grimacing, Xing Lei leaned against a building and caught his breath.
Reaching up, gingerly grabbing the icicle that still hung out of his shoulder he bit back a pained scream as he yanked the missle from his flesh. He marvelled at how the ice had not melted at all before tossing it aside and focusing his own magic to heal the bloody wound. Glancing around, he moved cautiously forward slipping from house to house, ducking into the deeper shadows when any elves thundered by.
It took him the better part of an hour to wind his way to the outer wall which by that time was being manned by the invading elven forces. The city behind had livened up a bit, teams were searching high and low for 'a despicable hench beast of the drow'. Smirking he focused on the wall, unlike the humans before, the elves were quite diligent in their duty leaving few blind spots that he could take advantage of. Lamenting his seeming new fate of never going anywhere through proper channels he started scaling the wall.
As he was about to crest the top of the wall he glanced at the elven soldiers at this section, all three were poised and ready for trouble, one in particular was holding something in his hand, Xing Lei could see a thumb rubbing along the surface to allay the elven mans nervousness. Breathing slowly, Xing Lei rushed over the edge, rolling over the lip and coming up, his last two readied crossbows appearing in his hands, the elves were about to shout out when two of them blanched and gripped the side of their necks, the third turned to face him bringing his sword up but wasn't ready as the kobold spun and slammed his tail into the soldiers ankles, tripping him off his feet.
Wasting no more time, Xing Lei leapt over the outer edge dropping down the height of the wall, reaching out, claws scratching the rough stone hard to slow his descent before rolling into the ground and dashing into the distance. His feet took him in the direction of the elven army initial setup, he wanted to leave a message for Fleet Spear before setting out to train in seclusion. It didn't take him long to reach the tent city, darting amongst the guards roaming about he made his way to the command tent.
Getting inside was relatively easy, with their commanders in the city proper the tent only had one minder. Inside Xing Lei looked for Fleet Spears section and pulled an old beaten suit of armor from within his ring he tucked it amongst her own possessions after scratching a few draconic runes into its face, he couldn't leave a detailed message but enough to let her know he still lived. As he escaped the tent town of the elven army it left only one decision for him to make. Where to hold up? North and west was the vast Silvertrees empire forest, south was back to the beast lands, so in truth he could only head east to the lands of the undead, but to survive there? He'd have to wait and see the conditions, surviving for two years on the bland spell made food in the prison was a testimony to his endurance, even a Buddhist monk had more flavor in their meals than what he had to subside on.
Glancing eastward he set out, putting the elven overrun human capital behind him, he'd gone in as a favor for Alustriea but it was her spells now chasing him out. It wasn't a total loss of course, he'd looted a fair shake of dark elven enchanted gear from the warriors who had fallen in the hall, none used a spear but beggars couldn't be choosers. Now that he was out from under the human handlers watching over him he could focus on self improvement and see exactly what he had scavenged. As the day drew longer, Xing Lei felt himself renewed, he no longer was abiding by a word given to a friend, his mate would be safe enough with the elves, he just had to find a place for himself to cultivate.
With a walking speed that outpaced most mortals he made good time leaving behind the war torn capital, he avoided the villages in case any had already fallen to elven occupation but also due to how the humans would naturally react to his kobold self. It was the third night after leaving his original path behind that he relaxed by a stream, a few hours had rewarded him with some juicy fish to fry up over a fire and was a welcome change to spell food, who ever had named [Heaven's Feast] surely had killed their taste buds off, sure it looked glorious, but it was as tasty as chewing on leather.
As the fire spit and crackled Xing Lei brought up his status...
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Name: Xing Lei (Dull Scale)
Gender: Male
Race: Kobold (Variant)
Level: 15
Job: Soul Traveller Rank: Mithril
Titles: Slayer of the Forest Lord, Elven Outcast, Fleet Spear's Mate, Dwarf Friend, Executioner of Infernals, Ally of House Luen, Arena Master
Strength: 9(+6) Dexterity: 10(+6)
Constitution: 11(+6) Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 18 Charisma: 14(+6)
Charm: 15(+6) Luck: 15
Mana: 80/80
Condition: Healthy
Innate Abilities: Varied Voice (Supreme) Rank: Mithril, Alchemy Flame (Novice) Rank: Iron, Inspection (Intermediate) Rank: Iron, Draconic Breath (Basic) Rank: Bronze
Skills: Alchemy (Novice) Rank: Bronze, Crimson Mountain Sects Body Tempering (Basic) Rank: Iron, [Dragon Scales], [Sealed], [Sealed], [Sealed], Herbology (Basic) Rank: Iron, Cloud Dragons Spear Technique (Basic) Rank: Gold, Weapon Crafting (Basic) Rank: Iron, Kobold Swordsmanship (Basic) Rank: Iron, Kobold Archery (Basic) Rank: Copper, Pottery (Basic) Rank: Iron, Stealth (Basic) Rank: Mithril, Kobold Axe Weilding (Basic) Rank: Copper, Elven Spellcasting (Basic) Rank: Copper, Draconic Spellcasting (Novice) Rank: Silver, Drow Hand Crossbow Expertise (Basic) Rank: Bronze
Elven Spells: Ignite
Draconic Spells: Minor Heal, Curse, Bless, Dragon's Strength, Light Heal, Light Harm, Dragon Fear, Heavenly Feast, Wyverns Grace
Unused Points: 0
Ally of House Luen - Befriended one of the house nobles and can be considered a guest of the house.
Arena Master - Survived the pits of Ironhand, all wagers in arenas will benefit you.
Elven Friend " Elven Outcast - You have been marked for death by House Illtalian of the Silvertree empire.
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Sighing to himself he couldn't really expect vast improvements, he had spent the last few years meditating and practicing his spellcraft. His capacity to cast spells had increased and he gained a level from his few fights that he had won but none had been overly challenging to him, save for the drow encounters and in those he had more scavenged the left overs of other combatants. As for the titles... again nothing impressive, he'd gotten an invite from a drow house, lost his standing with the surface elves and made arena master. Nothing immediately helpful.
Sighing to himself he looked to his ring, pouring his limited willpower into it to see his 'wealth', the majority was in those shiny metal bits mortals used for currency, sure it could be useful if the seller over looked his appearance. More importantly was the blood, organs and various hides and claws. From what he had harvested from the trip to the human capital he should have enough materials to reach major accomplishment in his body tempering, at least rank six. Rank seven if he pushed hard.
Rounding out his wealth was several weapons, suits of armor and various devices the dead drow had. While nothing was sized for his three foot frame, it was gear he could use in a pinch. The swords and daggers were all fairly heavily enchanted, though he noted the energy in those enchantments waned heavily when exposed to sunlight, whatever the drow did for their weapon and armor forging tied them to the darkness, sunlight was like a poison to their gear, rotting even the materials till it fell apart on his body.
He could only shake his head at how unprofitable the human capital had been for him, still in one sense, if you believed in karma one could say for all his early luck, having this sort of ill luck was his benefit. Compared to throwing a world into chaos, being inconvenienced for a short time really wasn't a bad thing. At this thought Xing Lei sighed again and focused on the cooking fish, the more he traveled it seemed the world was actively holding him back. In his old life getting resources was as simple as heading to a shop or going hunting but here... his gaze fell on the fish, while the cooking flesh made his lean belly rumble there was no scent of cultivating energy in the meat.
Pulling close one of the skewers he nibbled it in contemplation, for now he had the resources to build up his foundation, he just needed the place. Staying in the human lands wasn't plausible, with the elves scattering to consolidate their new rulership meeting any of the Illtalian agents would be very risky, same with their empire, heading there as he was would likely just be wrapping the noose around his neck for them. Returning 'home'... glancing to the south he chuckled, it had been two years, his child with Leaf Dancer had surely hatched and grown up, a bit of parental curiosity drew him that way but beating up the weakling kobolds, goblins and orcs gave him no challenge.
That left... east. Looking into the distance the rolling hills covered with wheat farms seemed to stretch on forever into the horizon. That way was the land of the undead supposedly, but he had never asked the distance, how long until the countryside twisted, he wondered? Or would it twist? In his own homeland of his old existence the presence of corpses and spirits changed nothing, the sects that dealt with spiritual manifestations were just as likely to setup on a lively mountain as they were a rotting tomb.
Biting into the fish he shook his head, he just didn't know what to expect. This life was so alien to his prior existence, even at his weakest he had no trouble trouncing mortals, yet here... basic warriors bedecked in clunky suits of base iron could gang up and overwhelm him. Scrawny dark seekers bested him not in terms of weapon know how but because this new body simply wasn't enough to keep up with his techniques. What was next? Amazonian women that out fought him? Maybe dire rabbits that would seriously wound his body? Snarling at himself a flame burst from his palm incinerating the skewer and the fish, as the ash swept away he looked at his scaled inhuman hand and growled at himself.
He was getting caught up in minor setbacks and temporary problems. This world was not his own, he was the alien, the mutation. This world was ripe for cultivation, he just had to focus on that. Exhaling slowly he reached for the second fish when the crack of a twig echoed from nearby. Alert, Xing Lei looked in the direction but saw nothing, he saw the broken twig, but its damage cause was not present. Casually lifting the skewer he remained vigilant, "Do you fear me that much to use a talisman to mask yourself?"
Silence reigned, not even the wind interrupted the stillness. Xing Lei chuckled and moved the skewer back to take a bite, his eyes remaining on the area where the broken twig lay. "I'm in no mood to play host Alustriea, if you've come to kill me then make your move, if you're here to talk then sit down and talk. This game of hide and seek is pointless, you masked yourself from visuals but you're still fond of perfume." Tapping one of his nostrils he calmly bit into the fish and chewed slowly as a figure shimmered into view.
Alustriea stared down at the eating kobold, the mixture of emotions in her eyes were still present, part joy at his presence but also rage at her assumed loss. There was also relief that her spell had apparently not left a lingering wound yet disappointment that still when faced with her he showed a casual arrogance, a boredom like she didn't matter. There was no sign or remorse for his selfishness nor joy that she was with him again. Sighing at herself for expecting some sort of human reaction she stepped forward and sat down.