Ibuwere had a lot of explaining to do, Wu Hai had spent enough time around others who had made excuses in his past life. As a Teacher, Professor Quanli usually had to deal with a plethora of absurd and abstract foulhandedness. What little of those experiences that Zao Wu Hai retained still haunted him in the form of an occasional headache when others would pander and flounder with false reasoning.
The boy they had bought at auction, the boy that had caused so much ruckus and problems was sitting in the Library.
Quietly he flipped through the pages.
"Here." Ibuwere turned the book around, it was a passage in a book that Qu had yet to read.
"If the Tower Spirit had read this you probably would have made the connections sooner or later, but read this." He didn't wait long before he stood up and went to grab another book.
Wu Hai started reading.
[Focused on the resealing of the dimensional rift, the guardians spoke of the betrayal that the custodians were responsible for. It was their legacy, the promise they made to their kindred so many thousands of years ago. ]
[Creator, return to us.]
[Great maker, please see us through this hardship. We wait your arrival in the world, seekers have been placed. Crush the Stigma, Release the Seals, Regain yourself. Be reborn.]
[This is how we know you will return.]
[May the passage guide you to tranquility, and lift the veil of suspicion. A devils word, a black bird howls, a world quakes and reshapes. The dominion of fate is not omnipotent, souls bind the wheels of fate. To bind a wheel of fate is to change its direction forever.]
[Captive, revilement, hatred, death. These words cannot phase the Creator.]
[For you are the master of none, but the master of all.]
[We hold your peace on Promise.]
The remaining words were blurred, distorted, waterlogged or just missing. There were blank spots, and holes in the scroll.
Is this all I have to go on? Zao Wu Hai was curious and a bit confused about where he should be headed next. He didn't have a whole lot of time, Ibuwere was taking a lot of it.
"We have to return to Yunnan, that situation isn't sitting well with me. Mike was the one that sold that ring, I'm sure of it. Its hard to consider any other outcome other than all out bloody confrontations in the palace. The guards won't be holding back, and we won't be able to afford to give them mercy. The Devil you run from, is still alive. You cannot hold up in here forever either, I'm sure Qu appreciates the company but you'll get bored soon enough." Prince Wu Hai stood up and was about to leave the room when Ibuwere stopped him.
"I have more to offer than just knowledge of the past. You need to learn to use your Mind, instead of allowing it to be used by your bodies. I've seen this look before, those heroes, they died. You'll be no different if you don't heed this advice. You.Are.Not.Ready." Ibuwere grabbed another scroll and threw it at the Prince with a smile.
"Read this. If you cannot understand the contents within one week, I cannot help you and will just wait in the Tower till the next hero finds it. At that time, I'll take an elemental body... aging is for societies, and not for me. Oh.. and one more thing. I don't work for free. I will require things from time to time, though i'll give good reason when I do. Read the scroll. If you can comprehend it, and want me to help.. then we can do this, otherwise it was nice knowing you." Ibuwere threw his hand up to stop the prince from asking more questions with a dramatic flare.
"You're funny. If you ever want to leave this Pagoda... you'll give me the help I expect from my group. Otherwise, you're not part of it. I'll read it. This is important, even if you're an asshole you still don't want to die. I can respect that, but you'll show a bit more respect the next time.. the Sect Guards won't tolerate such discussion." Prince Wu Hai had a lot on his plate, learning new techniques was not only time consuming, he didn't have much of it to begin with.
'I get that he wants me to be faster, but I already have a great movement ability.' The Prince thought to himself, found a desk and engorged himself in the book.
There was little he could do, the City was overrun with hostile guards and the Prince wasn't interested in a blind bloodbath. To be fair to himself, Kuzunoha and the Sect; Zao Wu Hai would have to learn how to fight, officially.
"Monk Techniques?" The Prince spoke under his breath, but it was loud enough to catch a few people's ears in the library.
['focus and revere the light, stepping upon it, adhering it to your sole. ]
[The Soul is boundless and seeks the soil, but the guiding light comes from above. ]
[search your soul and bond with it, the light hangs in the darkness and fills the air. ]
[Step on it and change direction.']
[-Naito Oguru-]
The Prince was sure he understood it, but it did seem a bit off to him. When he thought about it some more, he realized it was way too easy to be better than the movement technique he had been using since he was a child. He had even gotten progressively stronger when he got older. The question about whether or not the technique could outpace the 'Shunpo' book he read as a kid in Master Jiang's workshop was almost without the need for response, but Zao Wu Hai had learned a great many things from Master Jiang. One of which was that you could never be short on techniques, a different approach was usually a fantastic way to solve problems or survive.
"Light step?" Wu Hai held the scroll up to the light, hoping to glean some more information.
The Scroll was made of animal skins that had been finely tanned and the spindles were decaying bamboo. At one end of the handle, he noticed a crack for the hollow inside.
'Wonder what's inside?' The Prince fed his spiritual sense into the scroll and then into its spine.
'nothing' Zao Wu Hai frowned and walked outside of the Tower.
"Might as well practice." Wu Hai was standing on the shoreline watching the waves, he did his best to feel the push and pull of the tides, the breath of the air and the heat of the twin stars above him.
'at least I got to see a beach' Wu Hai kicked off his shoes and stripped down to some shorts.
It was time for a swim, Kuzunoha was already in the water collecting urchins and other sealife. She had a tendency to prepare. Watching her drift in the surf was a wonderous moment for the Prince, he had never taken time to take in the appreciation of a woman's form. Kuzunoha wasn't wearing a bathing suit, and she wasn't wearing anything alluring but it nearly left Zao Wu Hai at a loss for his own reactions.
He looked down and began noticing that he had gained an appreciation. The prince dove into the water, the cool temperature was enough to drive his libido out of his mind. Springing from the water with an Eight Gil Serpentfish, Wu Hai landed on the sand.
The Serpentfish was still kicking around when he landed. It was quickly slaughtered, cleaned and stored. They had a lot of food already, but Serpentfish had a type of poison. Qu had mentioned something about wanting to eat them again. Mike had caught a few while they were crossing the ocean. Despite having poison in their bodies, Qu was able to prepare them rather well. Mike said it was probably close to pufferfish in taste, he had never eaten pufferfish so he was unable to verify it exactly.
Either way, there were no complaints.
Miss Nara had been collecting such things her entire life, Sea Urchins were delicacies on Earth. Special fish would often times offer different tastes, but the Sea Urchins of this world were excellent alchemy materials and even great weapons if used correctly.
"How many more do you need? Wu Hai asked from the shoreline.
It was difficult to hear but Kuzunoha responded as quick as she could, "We can't wipe them out, otherwise they won't be here next time. I can only take about six more. Can you get me a sample of the sea water in a storage ring? When we get back inside I'm going to make a pool for these guys."
Holding up a few of the urchins in a rag, Kuzunoha lifted her dress a little too far and exposed her thighs. The Prince notice and couldn't help but look, he was caught and Miss Nara smiled before pulling her hair back as she stepped out of the water. The sea urchins didn't move much, but it was dangerous enough to keep mindful of the situation.
Very carefully, they made their way back into the tower.
Wu Hai grabbed Kuzunoha by the waste with the tower token in his hand, waving they both appeared on the 9th floor. There was a room no one had been using that was available, after some quick modifications and a small wave formation added to the poolside for a moving effect the tank was perfect.
Miss Nara couldn't wait to put them into the water, it wasn't good to have them out for too long. She would have put them into the storage ring, but that would mean they were dead.
"Qu, can you regulate the temperature to match the Ocean outside?" Kuzunoha was pretty sure the tower self-regulated but wasn't entirely sure that the Ice Formations throughout the Bent Tower Pagoda would interfere with her project.
"Yes, Xuan Kim Li had spent a great deal of time questioning me on the matter as well. Suffice to say, its easier to just let me do the work when modifying the Tower. I can however appreciate the desire to do things yourselves, don't let that stop you from getting my assistance. Surprises are not in my list of interests." Qu waved his hands an brought out a few larger glowstones.
With the addition of the glowstones there was little need for much else in the pool. The back and forth of the pool would churn the water. Miss Nara was a bit worried that she would have to build an air pump, but only time would tell.
"Here ya go." Placing the few varieties of Sea Urchin's into the tank, Kuzunoha looked over at the Tower Spirit and smiled before Wu Hai cut in.
"I wanted to ask your opinions on this scroll, I think its one of the few that came back from Japan." Prince Wu Hai passed the scroll over and tried not to stare at the slightly damp beauty in front of him while she explained.
"Yeah. Oguru wrote several, I'm pretty familiar with this one but I didn't have much success with any of them while I was still on Earth. Why bring this up now? Are you actually learning how to fight finally? We've all been sort of wondering what you've been doing with your spare time. Most of us think you're always in seclusion.. so what do you say, wanna fill me in? huh? huh? Miss Nara poked at Zao Wu Hai's chest.
"Alright, Alright. Quit it." Wu Hai laughed slightly and explained.
"Ibuwere was mostly right, I didn't have a chance against him and he wasn't exactly hostile. I have to learn how to fight against Demons and Devils. Will you help me get a handle on this technique? He said I need to Master this in 3 days. I don't disagree, but seriously I'd rather be back on track to find Xue." Wu Hai's eyes trembled as he took the scroll back.
Kuzunoha pushed Wu Hai down in the room and laid on his chest.
"There are a few things you have to remember during training this technique. One. You have to accumulate tension beneath you, Generating the light. Two. You have to do it on both feet. Three. You have to maintain it before you can freely step. Four. You can maintain flight, at least according to the scroll. Look, See."
[Step on it and change direction.']
Kuzunoha knew she was playing with fire by laying atop the Prince's chest, she didn't stay longer than it took to take a nice smell off his body.
The Prince noticed, but didn't say or react.
Getting up from a bit of an awkward position, the pair teleported to the Arena.
"Give it a try." Kuzunoha tugged on his hands and brought the Prince to the center of the fighting floor.
There were a few assistants practicing in the background, Qu had ordered them all to maintain physical fitness. It was sort of comical to watch the Tower Spirit order around people with a sailor moon whistle. Qu took his job somewhat seriously when he wasn't caught reading a romance drama from the Manga section of the library.
"Exactly what should I focus on first. I know. I know.. the light from my soul, on my sole. But won't that interfere with my Shadow? My abilities, at least the ones I'm most comfortable with are my shadow abilities. If my abilities are from Darkness, then light would be its counter." Wu Hai had a good explanation, but Kuzunoha already knew what to say.
She sat down on some rubble nearby and said, "Light cannot exist in all places, just as darkness cannot. Darkness exists in the absence of light, darkness and shadows. Start by hiding your shadows entirely. Focus on that for a moment and then think about your spirit guiding you, use that feeling to grasp the concept of light. All life seeks the light, spirits included."
"I guess I understand, let me give it a try." Wu Hai cancelled his Shunpo movement and began to constrict his shadow.
The Shadow snaked and drew itself closer. Every few moments it lowered itself into the recesses of the Prince's being. Eventually he was left with a small shadow under his feet, it felt more like he had stepped in something sticky. "Okay, I've driven my shadow as far back as I can go."
The brightness in his line of vision had grown significantly, the shadows of his brow no longer shielded him from the Twin Suns hanging overhead. It stunk his eyes but not enough to lose focus.
Very quickly Kuzunoha's advice came, "Now consume your shadow."
It came like a flash.
The Prince's body changed in form, his body seemed to invert in hue. The Elemental flesh held a whirling stone of white, burning energy. There were no shadows in the vicinity, but it was only for an instant. Prince Wu Hai dropped to the floor on his knees, it was more power than he had ever used before.
"I.Don't.Understand." Wu Hai panted and went over everything in his head.
The Light Elemental had vandshed from his flesh just moments after his collapse, the lightning and smokey shadows re-consumed his body with vigor. The entire scene looked like a pilot light had just started and turned off.
"I have to try again." Wu Hai stood up.
"Believe in yourself." Kuzunoha let go of his shoulder and went back to her seat.
Watching his reduce his shadow, she had another Idea.
"This time, don't consume your shadow. Just try to hide the darkness in your body, especially in your feet." Kuzunoha had a few more ideas to help him grasp the technique.
Things in the world were far different than on Earth, It was a monument of strength for someone to have developed this on Earth. Everytime Kuzunoha thought about it during the training session another idea came into her head. Just how many useful techniques were there laying in the library? The Young Princes had taken an interest in the fighting techniques, but many other things existed. The Dragon-Kin version of the Prince had hijacked 50,000 scroll and books from the Mountain Temple.
"Hold on, I think I've got it. " Wu Hai tried to coax the Rainbow Spot down, it was interfering with the transition.
"I fed this thing last week, it doesn't usually eat but when it does it tends to listen to me more. Let me give something else a try." Prince Wu Hai pulled out a bag of crystals and began pouring them out on the ground in front of him.
It seemed to work, but it took more than half of the bag begin poured out to get a reaction from the rainbow spot on the Prince's wrist.
'GO TO MY FEET!' Like a prayer in his mind, the Prince chanted over and over in his head for the rainbow spot to change position but it didn't work.
'Go to my feet!' Again, he chanted.
One time. One Hundred Times over in his head.
'Fuck this thing!' Wu Hai forced his shadow out to its fullest extent and then turned it back on himself.
"If you won't respect my wishes, then i'll just consume you too!" The Prince was furiously yelling at his hands.
The Shadow seemed to impale the Prince's body, over and over the shadows tumbled and churned.
'Swallow the Shadow, Swallow the Spot. Swallow it all. Allow my Soul to Shine!' Wu Hai's previously bruised ego watched as the Rainbow Spot twisted in abject shapes and retreated to the White Core that floated in the White-Light Elemental Body.
A Crackling was proceeded by a thunderclap that shook the Tower.
"Its only been 10 minutes." In a lower floor, Ibuwere smiled.