With the Mad King driven off for a time, the over reaching depressive shroud across the land seemed to lessen somewhat, while Xing Lei could still see the bleak landscape that stretched for unending miles, he could feel the aura of doubt waning. Even the others looked around with renewed life, some banding together to try and leave their entrapment here within these bleak plains.
Xing Lei however retreated to his shelter, refilling his barrel and preparing to push into the next level of body tempering, looking at the shrinking numbers of supplies in his ring he hoped to breach rank seven, but he doubted the resources would last that long. He should easily achieve rank six and be ready to push the first physical tribulation as he neared the end of the body tempering section of his cultivation.
The days crawled by as Xing Lei soaked in a bath that was now more beast blood than water, the brackish fluid roiling in the barrel as Xing Lei submerged himself inside, feeling the energy in the blood helping to reconstruct his flesh and bones. The heat of the blood would have scalded an ordinary person to death long ago but he felt like it could use more kick to assault the sixth rank. Lazing in the barrel Xing Lei had watched the world coming and going, with the Mad King backing off the other residents had become more lively, if somewhat more quarrelsome.
While the raving spirit entity had withdrawn the other prisoners had begun gathering, two distinct camps had emerged. A rather brutish fellow who looked like he was a cross between a barbarian and a bull was advocating for a violent attack on their jailer to escape the dreary land, if not for the fact was mostly using his great strength to bully about the weaker members it was this group Xing Lei himself could see backing. The other gang was lead by a rather slothful woman who used her charms to influence her supporters, while such charms were ineffective against him, it was her harem that turned him away. She really had no urge to leave, rather she sought physical comfort in a gaggle of young men and women who shared her growing living space.
Shaking his head, Xing Lei loomed to the horizon. The mad king had been silent for almost a week now, the entities hold on this prison land seemed tentative at best but what truly struck him as odd was the lack of retaliation. While he was confident his few surprise attacks had not really hurt the creature, it was still avoiding everyone. Sighing, the kobold slipped a little deeper into the bloody bath, the feeling of cat claws scraping over his leathery flesh only seemed to intensify as his thoughts drifted.
Once his body tempering was at rank six, the question was where to go for more supplies. He'd have to find civilization once he left this new prison, wandering ignorant of the world would serve little purpose but finding a place to welcome his current form would in itself, be the challenge. While it was possible that other kingdoms didn't share the short sightedness of the old Ironhand kingdom there was no denying kobolds weren't the best received.
Shifting in the blood bath, his gaze swept the horizon wondering what laid beyond that distant ring of enchanted wheat fields. Xing Lei had to admit the feeling of exploring new lands and struggling was something he looked forward to, it was necessary for personal growth but at the same time there wasn't a need to blindly travel into deaths embrace. Turning his attention back the way he had come his thoughts drifted to the ones left behind, Fleet Spear, Alustriea, as well as the child he had left with Leaf Dancer. The three weighed heavily on his mind.
Such was good and bad, it did show he was capable of relationships but at the same time such relationships would grow a heart demon, when he faced his tribulations later he'd likely have to face the joys and sorrows of ever thinking of those individuals. Sighing and closing his eyes he submerged in the blood, the host of angry cats clawed at his muzzle and eye lids, as he tried to settle in, the barrel of blood shook jostling him within. Emerging from beneath the surface, he carefully wiped the blood from his eyes before opening them.
Surrounding his little lean to was the bull guys gang, the man himself sneered down at the kobold, who looked dryly at the man, was this over puffed idiot really going to try picking at the 'weak' kobold now? Grunting softly he looked to the burly figure who looked over the blood filled barrel with an air of a boss over his lackey. Xing Lei however had a rather bored look on his face, casually leaning back in the blood bath, "Like I told your flunkies, I'm not interested in your gang or hers, you would do well to respect my neutrality and piss off."
The man chuckled, a muscled leg lifting to set a grimy worn boot on the lip of the barrel, eying that foot, Xing Lei considered how many ways and which ones were best for removing the offending appendage when the man snorted, "That be before little man, you be behind de times. Dere be only one gang now. Mine. You want ta live in mah land you join up, you don't then you be taking a walk."
Xing Lei looked around, this gang was roiling for a fight, his eyes narrowed spotting the other, former, leader amongst the throng. He'd figured out early into their meeting that her 'charm' required holding the others gaze for a time, he got around it by staring at her chest for their entire meeting. The brutes boys had gone a step further, where once a pair of rather amazing set of sea blue eyes had sat now were two raw bloody, hollowed out caves, the bull or one of his gang had dug out her eyes.
Sighing lightly he focused on the bull and grimaced, seems this thug wanted to be king of the hill, even if the hill was a manure pile. "Then when I'm done here I'll leave."
The brute of a man smiled evilly, "Oh ye don't get to choose little man, I had my boys watching you, you got lucky in one way didn't you short stuff? You got yourself storage or a store and I be wanting whatevers in it."
Xing Lei glanced around, while he hadn't exactly been subtle dragging out a barrel and monster bits he still had to wonder what gave this bull the gall to think he was entitled to what was Xing Lei's, "And if I refuse?"
The bull sneered, leaning over so his fetid breath rolled over the kobolds face, "Then we be doing dis da fun way."
That ugly visage turned into shocked surprise when Xing Lei's clawed hands briskly erupted out of the blood, two slender fingers hooking in the mans wide nostrils and yanking that face down into the blood with the kobold. Snapping his eyes shut was a quick reflex but a mouthful of the burning hot fluid slipped past the brutes lips and almost instantly cooked his fat tongue in his mouth, pushed back out by Xing Lei the bullish figure fell back giving strangled cries around his burnt bloated tongue, the kobold only lamented the idiot hadn't swallowed the blood, watching him cook inside out would have been just desserts.
Erupting from the barrel with a flip, the naked bloody kobold stood on the mans heaving, thrashing chest. His talented toes digging into the chest muscles adding the fools own blood to the beast blood that stained the mans tunic. "Do the rest of you wish to continue this?"
Around him the figures were like a pack of filthy wild dogs, once upon the time they had believed they were chosen, gifted powers and boons yet falling prey here to those whose gifts were better suited for battle or control, facing the dole bloody kobold many cringed away, not wanting to share the bull's fate, but many others surged forward, they held no weapons but for some they needed no tools for their bodies changed. Some took on the form of metal puppets others grew talon and claw, some even outright shifted into a beast folk before lunging at him.
What occurred next wasn't a fight but an open brawl. With the 'leader's down, every half assed, would be despot wanted to claim the gang in the bulls stead, instead of a gang pummeling a lone kobold the whole area erupted in violence, looking over the mix of power holders finally unleashing their frustrations, Xing Lei shook his head. He did not deny his own self interest but many of the gang were petty small minded beings, so caught up in clawing for their own superiority complex they may as well just be an ugly, angry mob.
Hearing screams to one side, Xing Lei sighed. His barrel of blood had been used as a weapon, the burning beast blood splattering over a group of people and to a man they were all soon screaming in agony, as if a pot of lava had been dashed against their bodies. Frowning his spirit sagged, with thos resources ruined he'd have to dip into the ones for the seventh rank, delaying the iffy advancement into the realm of definitely not happening.
Kicking the whimpering bull beneath his feet, the man screamed as his chest caved inwards, bloody spittle erupted from his open mouth as Xing Lei hopped down and walked off. Where he passed he lashed out at these idiots brawling in the dirt, kicking them out of the way. Storming off he marched across the dismal open land, no real destination in mind, well he had one but was leaving it to karma to see if he'd find what he now needed.
Leaving the brawlers in his wake, Xing Lei walked deeper into the bleak lands, his patience for the Mad Kings games was wearing particularly thin. The more he crossed the dismal landscape the more he saw a once hearty system suddenly skewing wildly. It made no sense, sure he had exposed his jailers nature but what little damage he had done should not have resulted in the current chaos, at best the mad king should have launched an attack of some sort his way, yet the only recent attacker was the berserker bull man who he had soundly beaten. That fellow was simply one who did not know how to judge his foes, the simplistic brute was certainly not a piece in the Mad Kings game.
Xing Lei walked on paying his surroundings little mind, instead of seeing more and more evidence that control of the area had slipped. The prisoners had shifted from depressive wanderers to rampaging beasts, the last few he had encountered had rushed the smaller kobold with no heed to plan or tactic, just lay in close and hard and try to rend the victim limb from limb, such mindless aggression made no sense, and it was hard to say it was the Mad Kings doing as unlike the depression aura that had seeded his own mind with doubts, this reckless violence seemed to not touch his core beliefs.
He looked around getting his bearings and adjusted his course, rather than find an exit, he needed to find the formations core, even if the Mad King had slipped his reigns the wheat formation was an automatic hurtle that needed seeing to first and foremost, thus he searched for the formation heart, with another hill crested it was hard to deny he had found the formation heart. In a secluded vale dipping lower than the hill he now stood on sat an ivory tower, energy pulse from a crystal affixed to the peak, years of disinclined interest saw the formerly pristine walls choked with leaves and dirt, the once brilliant white structure stood dirty and looking half abandoned saved for a light flickering in the window of a room on the third floor. Briskly walking forward, Xing Lei headed to the tower determined to deal with the troublesome entity...