Listening to the Twins advice, Genba grabbed a second mallet and flung it toward the Target puppet, the dummy wasn't able to predict every battle behavior, it did not expect that Genba would discard his weapon and the Mallet smashed against its right shoulder joint. The strike sent the puppet spinning in the opposite direction and Genba leapt into the air, coming down with his hammer, directly onto the puppets head, shutting it down.
"Good!" Cheng Yu cheered.
"Yes, Like that." Cheng Mu agreed before Qu walked up and reset the puppet.
"Next?" Staring over at the onlookers Qu called out for the next opponent. EVeryone was taking a turn, it was an opportunity that none of them could overlook.
Being battle ready was extremely important and even Zhan had been out of practice for more than a few weeks.
"I guess that's me." Zao Zhan walked to the center of the ring and drew his bow from storage.
"These puppets aren't going to be your opponents but if you must fire at a moving target they are ideal." Qu made a gesture like he was pushing a button and watched the puppets take out red circles attached to sticks from their chests before they started going back and forth across the arena floor.
The puppets raced across the arena floor and waved the targets furiously.
"Target.. Practice?" There was pause in Zhan's words but very quickly he beamed, "Okay, I can handle this." Zhan was surprised that the Puppets could perform such a complicated task. The Firewolf Brigade would make the troops set each target up, over and over. 'I like this, its very practical.' He admired the utility of the exercise and felt like it was the right choice at the time. He drew his bow from his shoulder.
"Qu, I need more arrows.. can you bring over a few sheaves." Zhan wanted to show up Genba, who had been dominating the arena floor and not fail on his first attempt.
'Its too early to use magic, better to rely on my skills.' Taking a deep breath Zhan called out, "Target ON"
The Puppets ran in zigzag patterns while waving the targets up and down. Notching his first Arrow, Zhan realized that the puppet wasn't acting the same as when Genba was fighting melee. The Puppets were not attacking him, instead, they dodged just enough to make it difficult to aim.
"If you don't attack in 4 seconds, they will start to attack as a default." Qu decided to give Zhan advance notice but it didn't matter, Zhan was already on the move.
Releasing the arrow, Zhan heard piercing screams as the arrow flew by, "Outer Ring."
Qu called out, "Fire again, faster.. you don't have to wait for the puppets to reset themselves."
"If you say so, then.. so.. be.. it." Pulling another arrow from his quiver, it sparked with flames. He immediately drew his bowstring repeatedly to fire, the Arrows were flimsy and arched while he pulled on them. In a flash, he had already pulled the bowstring back a again, this time, without an arrow. 'Water bolt!' Zhan did his best to manifest the magic in that moment, he released the bowstring again.
Before the string had finished snapping, he had a third arrow torn from a sheave. Zhan was already looking for the moment when the Puppet would charge, The trail from the water bolt wobbled a bit and its trajectory was difficult for others to follow. When it fell, it landed in the middle of the puppets head, drilling at its surface, rendering it inactive.
When the third arrow hit, it pinned the puppet to the ground and the fire arrow started to scorch the dummy.
Qu was thrilled that someone was putting the arena to its full use, Wu Hai's group had a tendency to use the Arena as a sparring ground.
"Very well done, Zao Zhan!" Master Jiang was impressed, but had a hint of worry in his voice. 'Less than one day of having received a magical ability, yet, he used it in combat and effectively. These Son's of Zao keep surprising me. No casting, just raw channeled power. Breaking rules of the gods, this type of power, to give it out..'
"!HAH!" Khan Ni had noticed that a good chunk of the group had gone off to do other things. When she arrived at the arena, she was eager to see what was going on. After watching Zao Zhan's ability, she could only laugh with a sense of superiority while she spoke. "That was nothing."
"Miss Ni, Why do you laugh?" Zao Zhan was sure it had to do with him personally since he had just finished getting praise when she began to laugh.
"Make the targets move." Khan Ni gave Qu the stink eye and watched all the targets start up. She wasn't interested in small talk.
The 18 targets were all of different types.
Taking a deep breath she flicked her wrist and a bow was materialized in her hands. In less than seven seconds, Khan Ni had fired the entire sheave of regular arrows. She hit the eighteen target puppets, the arrows pierced every moving target and then pinning the target to the puppet's eye socket.
Exhaling softly, all the targets were crumbling to the floor and in desperate need of repair. "Make them stronger." Khan Ni seemed disinterested and sat down to wait for Qu to reset them.
Zhan had seen fast firing before, 'Fifty arrows.. Fifty!! In seven seconds, that's something I have to learn.' "MISS NI! You are so good, how could I measure up to your ability? Surely you could give me some pointers." It was arrogant as it left his lips but he was seriously intrigued.
"Move faster, you take too long to draw. Also your quiver.. it's all wrong, I think whomever made it had never fired a bow before." She was critiquing it like a Master Craftsman. It should be at an angle with the fletching directly at a quarter second or faster grasp. Look.. give it to me." Khan Ni got up and walked over to Zhan with her hands out. She started to take off his quiver.
"Hey hey hey.. I can do it." Zhan took off the quiver and handed it over.
"Qu, give me a block of Ice." Khan Ni wanted to help but didn't want to teach, Wood-Elves had their own sense of pride and disinterest in sharing their heritage with others. Some things were common knowledge but there were certain things that she would likely never share with others.
"Never tell another soul that I worked on your things, its a sort of shame to Elves to hand out our crafts." Khan Ni turned away while she worked, 'Lets see what Zhan could do with the right stuff, his form wasn't bad.. just slow.'
The Tower Spirit produced a large block of Ice.
Khan Ni used the natural enemy of the species that the quiver was made from, to weaken it as she altered it slightly. Drakes were unusually susceptible to the cold.
"This leather is from a Fire Beast, probably Dragon-kin. If you work with leathers, you learn to work with the gifts nature gives you. This quiver is larger than it needs to be, so there is extra material."
Pulling her skinning knife out, Khan Ni kept her movements hidden while she made a few quick swipes and the quiver nearly fell apart. She didn't realize that she was talking about her crafting but she was still working. Prying a few pieces off of the interior and adjusting the rest position of the quiver so that the arrows sat in the right direction, the once bulky Drake-skin quiver was starting to get much smaller.
Small bits of leather were tossed into a pile, some of the smaller bits caught fire and burned away.
"You have a spacial ring, I've seen it. Put your arrows in the spacial ring and just keep this quiver, if you must, for when you need fire added to your arrows. Ignore your basic instinct to reload from your back." Walking up behind Zhan, Khan Ni placed her hands on his shoulders and adjusted his hips. "Look forward, when you take aim, picture the arrow notched on the string and release. It's that easy."
Whispering a bit near the back of Zhan's ear, Khan Ni slapped him on the ass and walked away. He was not expecting Khan Ni to do something like that, he almost dropped his bow in shock.
Khan Ni finished the alterations on the bright red quiver and she had done a remarkable job. Smaller now, it only held eight perhaps nine arrows but it was much lighter. If the quiver was 15 kilograms before, now, it weighed less than a few ounces when there were no arrows.
"What exactly did you take out?" Pulling an arrow from the quiver, it still lit but the fire was even brighter than before.
"I told you, the person who made it had probably never fired a bow before. The bottom was lined with dense metal." Tossing the plate to Zhan's feet he stopped it with his boot.
Khan Ni had taken out a 13 kilogram weight, she scoffed. 'Adding weight, amateurs!'
Zao Zhan was speechless.
"Try again. You better not make me regret using my time to help you. If you don't hit at least 5 targets I'll assume you're deaf and dumb." Khan Ni had no tolerance or respect for slacking archers. As a Wood-Elf, she would be enraged if one her kinsmen were ineffective with a bow. She wasn't picking on him intentionally but she wasn't going to be forgiving if she was disappointed. It would be better to spend that time sleeping if he couldn't improve with the advice she had already given.
Mot of the group had made it out to the practice arena, Calistown, Rachael, and Lei had just back come out of the passageway when Khan Ni was backing off of with a chipper tone. Her crisp and charming voice echoed gently and caught Rachael's attention.
Gulping gently, Zhan felt a little pressured but it soon faded.
Looking over at a target and readying himself a bit, he took in a deep breath and materialized his bow while calling out, "TARGETS ON!"
All the targets whirled to life, Zhan didn't pay attention a particular target, if he had, he would have only started the one.
Pulling his bowstring several times in a row, four water bolts were fired out very quickly and then he drew from quiver and fired a blazing arrow immediately after. Repeating the process Zao Zhan took down 10 targets in 10 seconds with 10 shots. Each arrow hitting the forehead of each target.
"Much better" Khan Ni called out. "But you still have eight targets."
Materializing her bow again Khan Ni fired eight arrows into the air above her. A moment later, all eight puppets had an arrow pierce the tops of their heads and come to a stop.
The entire time, none of them had stopped moving around in random patterns.
"Could you let me have my win?" 'Haha, these friends of Wu Hai are actually pretty strong.' Zhan was a little embarrassed but still marveled at Khan Ni's skills.
"It's okay, I'm a much higher level than you, if you manage to level up, you'll also be able to do some of the things I can do. Before Wu Hai and I met, I could only fire about 20 arrows in 15 seconds." Zhan thought he heard Khan Ni wrong but she reiterated, "Just go hunting with Wu Hai, now that you have magic you should be able to level up like the rest of us."
"Level up? Master Jiang, What is she talking about? level up? Is that something like getting stronger?" Zhan was lost, this was a foreign term that his brother had never used in front of him.
Master Jiang was curious too, Wu Hai had mentioned a few odd words before he set out on adventure.
It wasn't that OId Man Jiang didn't know but.. he did not know, "You'll have to ask my Disciple, he has grown far beyond what I anticipated, though, I'm sure he has secrets to keep, he's never hidden anything from me when asked."
Wu Hai stood there with everyone around and leaned against a wall. "Couldn't even wait for me to come back inside?"
"Wu Hai, you're back." Khan Ni put her bow away and walked closer to him.
Wu Hai started explaining experience points and leveling, "I found it unbelievable and confusing at first, but now I think I've leveled up more than a dozen times. Every time I level up, I feel much stronger and magic becomes much easier." To protect himself, he had instructed the group not to talk about leveling up during their adventuring but now it was just family and close friends asking, there was a change in his attitude.
Genba was new to the group but he had abandoned everything to follow them, trusting him was calculated risk that had to be accepted. Genba had left everything he had known after the death of his family, there was no reason to stay. The group had saved his life, or spared it, depending on the viewpoint. He was either welcome, or not.
"Genba" Wu Hai pulled out another crystal, just like the one he had given to Zhan and handed it over. "Eat this, I only have twelve more."
Genba didn't question his benefactor, he threw the crystal into his mouth and shortly after, he watched his fingers glow with the power of lightning. Hair stood on end all over his body and his fluffiness reached an all time high.
Lei rushed up to pet him but the static charge made her own hair frizz out as well.
"HA HA Ha ! Ha-ha. Hah ha-ha" The group laughed, they needed a lighter mood and Lei provided.
"Okay, Now.. I want you to roll this." Wu Hai handed him the Crystal Cup with the Metallic Die. "I want you to roll until you get Metal. If you can do this, you'll have control over metal." Genba looked at his new young friend, he was at a loss about why this young man would do so much for him when the Minaur people had been so vicious. Dismissing any hesitation, he shook the cup spilled the Die onto the ground. The Gygax landed on Soul ability, he picked it up, hesitated for half a second from the sensations, put in the cup and rolled again.
'Darkness,'
Mind,
Soul,
Healing,
Stars,
Stars,
Darkness.'
Then, finally it landed on 'Metal.'
The sensations that Genba felt during the transitions were intense. He heard everyone's thoughts, felt everyone's souls, felt the wounds in his heart disappear, the truth of the universe was nearly at the tips of his horns, it was an amazing array of sensations. With the Power of Metal and Lightning Genba would be able to paralyze his opponents and entrap them.
Wu Hai could tell what he was thinking, "You'll have to roll the other dice to get lightning again but its complicated so lets get you familiar with this power first. One step at a time and all that. Okay. Good, now that you have that, I want you to work with the Twins. You need to be able to keep up with them during our next hunt. Your only job for the time being, will be to back them up by using the same or as close to the ability as the ones they use, when they are using them. Darkwing can also help you learn to control your power better, his training is out of the ordinary." Wu Hai had changed two lives today, he was already tired.
Looking around the Arena, Wu Hai sighed. There was still flying to do but he had managed to put a great deal of distance between the sinkhole and where the Tower now stood.
"The Suns are setting, Mother... It's been a long time, would you mind cooking for us? I could really go for some home cooking." Wu Hai had some concerns about how he would be living in the future but he had his family with him now. It was important that they all progress and develop their abilities, if they ever ran into Portano's Royal Forces again, the situation could be disastrous.
Portaling the group back to the lobby, Qu and Wu Hai talked while Calistown and Rachael made dinner for the twelve of them.
Qu didn't need to eat but it was nice to have him at the table.
"Thank you Mother, How long until you're due? I think it should only be about two months to go." Wu Hai was good at judging a situation but the atmosphere in the room had shifted in that instant, everyone present wanted to know.
"Just how many books have you read? And yes, I will give birth in about two more months, Rachael should be due at around the same time." Calistown put her hands on her stomach and looked over to Rachael with a smile. "Children are so much work," Rubbing her belly again, she stared at her daughter in law.
"Uhhhh" Calistown groaned as she got back to her feet. "I'm tired and dinner was good. Husband, show me to bed." Calling out for Ooran, he quickly finished his wine and he helped her back to the room upstairs.
Mangled Puppets were strung about the Arena's Terrace. The group had gotten some time to practice and many were amazed at each other's strengths. Qu had to produce all the puppets, many of them needed revision. Being clobbered on the head was something he predicted but if all they ever did were head-shots, the puppets would soon be broken. Qu had left one of his avatars to fix the Arena, otherwise, he was sure that it would not see repair.
Qu thought about it some more after he portaled the guests to the Lobby. Staring at Wu Hai he asked, "Master, Do I have your permission to use some of the materials you have stored on the the upper floors? I'd like better targets for practice. I believe with a few of the materials that you have at your discretion, it would make the puppets take less damage from attacks." He tried to be rational, Qu stopped speaking.
Qu didn't want to ask to much of his new host, it was against his commission to interfere with inferred destiny or otherwise.
'If I had been a Sword instead of a Tower Spirit or Perhaps a Cauldron or Ring, even a piece of Armor...' Qu stood in contemplation, he still had to obey the owner implicitly. No contract existed, only an Item's bond, Spirit Items bind themselves to the user and only become loose under certain circumstances. Spirits were never freed, it was somewhat impossible to separate the Item and the Spirit once crafted.
Rogue Spirits were eventually caught, destroyed, possessed by someone, perhaps something else, they themselves were things that belonged to the people that handled them.
Catching a spirit, that was something else entirely.
Qu was passionate about following protocol, the orders and teachings of his first Master. His Creator was someone he revered, someone who gave him his personality, gave him life. A construct, autonomous and aware, something like a 'talking map' from children's stories, would be immediately taken by first person to see it. Spiritual Items were highly coveted, possessed and owned, traded and lost.
There was no easy way of changing the world, only the way things were done at home. To cast aside his right to be treated like others would be disastrous, or so he thought.
Suddenly Wu Hai got up and approached Qu, he had noticed the servile nature of the Tower Spirit since the very beginning. Qu was awkward and annoying when he would distance himself. "Qu. Whatever you need, just run it by me once. I'm pretty sure you can have whatever is in the Tower to do as you please, also stop calling me 'Master' already. You have arms, legs and you can talk. Be an Individual."
Brushing off Qu's non-existent dusty shoulder, Wu Hai walked over to his mother, placed his hand on her stomach and felt the movement. He could feel strong life forces coming from his Mother, she was very healthy.
Passing his eyes over to Rachael, Wu Hai could see the Twin's both kicking at each other in the womb. It would be impossible to separate the two of them when they were born.
"What's that look for?" Rachael tilted her head, Wu Hai had a strange expression on his face. Evidently he was still lost in his thoughts about the babies. "Wu Hai?" She called his name.
"Oh! Sorry. I was probing. Your babies are fine." Standing up he continued, "The Children are going to be beautiful and full of energy." With a smirk on his face, he quickly ran off to join Darkwing.
Rachael looked over at Calistown and frowned "Your sons are both quick to run off without explaining." 'No surprise at all.'
Calistown smiled quietly, she had been through a lot and she could feel something when Wu Hai felt the life force inside her.
Genba and Darkwing were relaxing in his room, there was a lot of bedding so both of them could relax and get drunk without breaking things when they eventually fall down.
"Today was fun, I want you to teach me about magic. Master said I now have the power of Lightning and Metal. You know Lightning, please show me." Genba was serious, he had given up only to have Darkwing and Wu Hai drag him along, after finding purpose, he wanted to commit fully.
Riding a wave of misfortune and suffering was of little interest to either of them.
"Lightning... I make lightning when I focus my power. You focus, your power. I make this when I focus lightning." Opening his hand, he started to condense the Lightning that coursed from his fingertips.
Soon the color changed from blue to white, then back to a strong Violet. "This is about as strong as I can get the Essence on my fingers to a liquid." Closing his hands, the liquid lightning vanished with a thunderclap.
The sudden noise shook the bottom of the Tower.
"I have said too much." Darkwing grabbed a case of wine from a crate and started to open it.
"Lets try this one, Mu said it was from your tribe. They called it Goldwater." Grabbing a bottle for each of them he passed one over to Genba. Pulling the top from the bottle Genba could see the sincerity in Darkwing's glowing eyes.
Focusing on the lightning itself was easy enough, Genba managed to get sparks very quickly but all too often, he would only get a small thin burst of electricity. His hands were as tough as steel and they felt like it too.
Whenever Genba channeled his energy, he wasn't just channeling one, he was channeling both. The end result was that he was grounding himself out.
"This could be a problem but at least you're tough as nails." Darkwing laughed and drank more of his Goldwater.
The Twins were still down in the lobby finishing off food from earlier when they heard the thunderclap and immediately went to see if it would be fun.
"Drinking without US! HA HA HA!" Dropping in unannounced, the Twins made themselves right at home with Darkwing and Genba.
"Brothers! LET US DRINK!!!" Throwing their gourds upside down, the wine flooded their cups until the end of the night.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Wu Hai had been watching his brother diligently training earlier, the adaptability they both had to the situations that life and destiny kept throwing at them gave them showed not only courage but determination and willpower to charge forward.
Walking up to his brother who had been quietly attending his bride, Wu Hai commented, "Brother, I believe you've won."
"Won.. ah.. Hehe, I suppose that's not exactly right. I was the first to achieve my goal, but." Zhan continued after a moment for suspense, their rivalry depended on it. "But, If you complete yours in oh? I don't know. . five years, you'll be faster than me."
Poking Wu Hai repeatedly in his massive, oversized, elemental chest was not as Zhan predicted. In fact, it sort of hurt. Wu Hai's body was dense and sharp.
"So, Explain the Compass to me again.. why are you … err, we, following it." Zhan inquired nonchalantly.
"You weren't listening were you? I already explained all of this. Fine, the Compass has been guiding our group, I keep finding things and more adventure every time I look at it. It's so old, it's Ancient. I wouldn't be surprised it it belonged to the Custodians.." Wu Hai barely had any energy left after the long flight and just talking about the journey got him pumped up.
"I was suppose to go at this adventure alone, make my own group and party and grow.. now I have all these people. Exactly how am I suppose to do all that with so many people to look over?" Wu Hai stood up, nearly double the size of Zhan in his elemental form. In his elemental form he was much more intimidating.
"But, you aren't alone anymore. That's the point. You did find your own group. It doesn't matter if its family or strangers." Zhan quickly rebuked Wu Hai's statement.
"Are you two going to hug now?" Khan Ni chided the siblings who were caught in a moment of embarrassment. " Look, We're all a Team. Now we have a dozen people, So what?"
"Thirteen. We have Thirteen so far, don't forget Qu. He might be a phantasm or spirit but he's loyal, capable and part of the team." Wu Hai started to defend Qu but realized it was a bit unneeded. "Any one who joins us will be part of our Clan. Actually, I have a thought. Darkwing, Genba.. Twins, Khan Ni.. Will you join the Zao Clan."
It was unexpected, and completely without forethought.
"To New Friends!" Raising their glasses Ooran, Calistown, Zhan and Rachael all hoisted their glasses... Master Jiang did not.
"Master, What is wrong?" Wu Hai just proposed something important, and his master was being indifferent.
Old Man Jiang stroked his chin, and said "I do not oppose it, these people.. these friends of yours, they are indeed loyal and willing to fight beside you. I do not doubt their sincerity, I doubt those who would come afterward. Just inviting people into a Clan is not a good idea, don't misunderstand me. Where would we house them? In the Tower? I think your headaches will only increase at that point. No, If you want to build a clan, you need a base of operations. A City, Village, or Plaza, somewhere to hone your skills and live."
"I don't understand, are you saying we'll be betrayed in the future?" Wu Hai couldn't figure it out and asked.
"No, I'm not saying that you'll be betrayed in the future. I'm saying that it is possible and that you should keep your eyes open, your family safe, and your guard up. There is a lot at stake, you yourself even admit as much. Your group is growing, your family is growing. It's time to choose your paths." Master Jiang had been forced to kill several people in an effort to keep the Zao Family alive, he was not about to have Wu Hai be dismissive and ruin all the hard work he had put into survival. "Also, I really like Lei.. she's fun. If anything happened to her, I'd probably take out the problem at its root's." It was rare to hear Master Jiang speak of murder, mass murder at that.
Wu Hai swallowed hard.
Getting tired of hearing about death, Calistown butted in, "Enough!" Everyone stopped and looked over. Calistown never yelled.
'Huh? What is it?' All of them wanted to know but no one spoke, they waited.
Soon, Calistown opened her mouth again, "So what! We just have to get stronger, I'm tired of running. I liked my Tea Shop, I'm pregnant.. I am not running anymore!" Calistown looked at everyone with fierce eyes. "Whoever comes will come. Let them know what it is to regret before they taste Death." Her voice grew louder. "Master Jiang, you taught Lei a lot about her powers." She pointed at her son, "Wu Hai, Give me a Crystal."
"..Are you sure you want to do this? You're still pregnant." Wu Hai was a little concerned that giving power to his Mother during pregnancy could potentially cause problems, doing his best to read the room, he wasn't unwilling but his concerns were genuine.
"Darling, You worry too much. Your Father took risks everyday when you were a child, now we're all in danger. One Day, perhaps never, we'll be forced to face the Kingdom again. At that time, I don't want to be weak." Snatching a Crystal from Wu Hai's hand before he could take it away, Calistown prayed quietly, then slipped the crystal onto her tongue and swallowed.
Just as before, it took a moment. The power coursing through her veins made her turn ethereal.
"Okay, that was not a Lightning crystal?" Checking the bag of crystals again, Wu Hai discovered that there were indeed several types of purple crystals. One had sparkles, one had halos, one had swirls, another in his hand had spiderweb like cracks throughout its interior. There were even some that had slightly different shades of purple, Wu Hai realized his mistake and oversight.
"QU!" Wu Hai felt wrong in some way. "We need to draw up a table of crystals, if there are more than just Lightning type crystals, we need a way to identify them."
"Yes, Master." He replied as fast as he could, Qu could tell that Wu Hai was not pleased when he was speaking but it was about his mother, even Qu could understand that conundrum.
"I just gave my mother a crystal to consume, it should have been lightning. I'm not angry.. Just very surprised. It's probably for the better, look at her." Pointing, he continued. "She's glowing.." Wu Hai couldn't help but stare at his mothers radiance. She glowed in the moonlight. "You have the power of the Stars."
"Since you've no magic before, we can only assume the Crystal gave you the Stars ability." Master Jiang tried speculating a bit.
"I've got nine more purple but hundreds of the other colors. We'll have to build our forces if we want to make our own place in this world." His expression changed slightly, "Lets make it, lets make our own Kingdom." Wu Hai was angry about how he'd been chased out of his home, twice. Clenching his fists tightly, they almost began to bleed.
"A Kingdom requires Gold.." Zhan mumbled.
"QU, Take us all to the Metals Storage." Wu Hai waved his hand and portaled himself.
When Zhan's eyes opened again after transporting, he saw rows and rows of long gold rods and bars.
Some of the bars were 30cm wide and over 20 feet long. There were thousands of them.
"I don't think money is a problem, Plus.. we can always get more." Wu Hai placed his hand on a pile of gold.
Ooran and Calistown's jaws dropped to the floor.
"This is simply too much wealth to have in your hands. Even a Kingdom would suffocate with this much wealth." Zhan couldn't help himself, he felt worried but salivated a little, with a fortune that size, there was little he couldn't purchase, including a new life.
"This isn't the bulk Metals room." Wu Hai smiled and led them on a tour of his private vault.