Splash! "C'mon sis get in!" a little boy with blackish grey hair laughed as he splashed the water all over his older sister.
The older sister had long greyish blue hair that extended to her well defined waist and golden pupils that glistened like the morning sun. Her curvy figure could incite the desires of a man in mere seconds. Agyth was more cautious than her brother, surveying their surroundings several times before undressing, if there were any brave enough to take a peek they would surely be slaughtered.
Yue Chen stood in the distance with Ning Biyu in his arms, circulating his shadow attribute he erased his presence while moving closer to the brother sister pair. When Yue Chen had come within a few meters of the lake Agyth's ears twitched and she instantly became alerted. Fangs extended from her hands and Agyth's pupils contracted while watching Yue Chen carefully.
"Who is it?!" the fair skinned girl twisted in the direction of Yue Chen and Ning Biyu
"I'm not an enemy, I need a doctor" Yue Chen immediately attempted to pacify Agyth as soon as he realized she was readying for battle.
Agyth retracted her fangs and casted her gaze onto the unconscious Ning Biyu. A single glance was enough for Agyth to become even more cautious of the two. Extending her claws a second time Agyth wore her clothes and climbed out of the water.
Agyth pointed at Ning Biyu in Yue Chen's arms "What is wrong with this child, why does a dark attribute posses her vessel?"
"She fell from a high place and was affected by the shadow attribute, there is no true energy to protect her nor slow the erosion, we need help to remove the negative true energy" Yue Chen's face darkened with guilt as he explained the situation.
Swoosh!
Before Yue Chen could react Agyth's claws were already against his neck threateningly. Agyth narrowed her eyes at Yue Chen warily and asked "how do I know she didn't allow you to injure her in order approach us?"
"What use do I have for you that I would approach you without a reason?!" questioned Yue Chen furiously. He could not nor did he wish to understand what Agyth was trying say, with Ning Biyu's life hanging by a string Yue Chen was desperate for help.
"How dare a mere human speak to me in such manner!" Agyth had was already in battle mode and struck out swiftly.
"I can treat her" the little boy responded, drying his hair with a towel he retrieved from his spatial storage.
Agyth halted her attacks at her brother's words "Ein there's no need to-"
"But I have one condition as well as a request, for now satisfying the condition will do" Ein interrupted Agyth abruptly.
"Okay" Yue Chen nodded without listening to the conditions. Ning Biyu's condition would not allow for bargaining nor was he in any position to do so.
Ein made a satisfied expression as he wore his glasses, suddenly his childish demeanor had become more refined and mature and did not suit his appearance. "The condition can be discussed afterwards, I will heal her injuries first"
Yue Chen relaxed knowing Ning Biyu would be treated and started to tend to his own injuries. After a while Yue Chen opened his eyes and got up to check on Ning Biyu.
"Her injuries have been treated using true energy and her arm was relocated practically, when she awakens there will be soreness all over her body so massaging her body might help. Also there is no way for me to completely remove the dark attribute from her body, fortunately I managed to weaken the effects so the waves of pain shouldn't be too long" Ein gave a diagnosis of Ning Biyu's condition while wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Yue Chen nodded with a smile so wide it was difficult to hide "Mn". now that she was cured Yue Chen shook Ning Biyu awake.
Ning Biyu opened her eyes with a drowsy yet cute expression that soon warped in a matter of seconds "Ah....gaaaah!" Ning Biyu let out a delayed cry with both arms crossed over her shoulders in an attempt to lessen the agony no less than having your flesh seared helplessly. On the surface of her skin blood runes shone a brilliant red with blood dripping from the corner of her eyes.
Yue Chen immediately exploded, grabbing Ein by the collar he lifted him into the air with a ghastly look "What did you do to her?!" Ning Biyu's reaction was not as collected as he had expected, instead it more blood curling than Yue Chen had imagined which made him doubt Ein's abilities.
"You fiend, release my brother!' Agyth reared her fangs and gave Yue Chen a deadly glare, should anything happen to Ein she would surely tear him to pieces.
"why....cough.... do you try so hard when you two aren't even ...cough...close at all" Ein asked as he tried to escape Yue Chen's choke for fresh air.
"What do you know about anything?" Yue Chen scoffed, tightening his hold on Ein causing him to cough more frequently.
"The transgressions of your past life has already been forgiven there is no need to burden yourself over insignificant matters" Ein gave Yue Chen a knowing look as he spoke.
Yue Chen's eyes widened and his grip on Eins came free and Ein fell to the ground coughing incessantly.
"Choose your next words carefully or you won't be the only one to suffer" a chilling air came from Yue Chen as his eyes fixed on Ein.
"My inhabitant spirit ability "Odin's Eye" allows me to see anything I wish to know and if it is stored in Odin's Library of Knowledge I am able to retrieve the information in a breath of time. Your true element, your origin, the width of your hair all is within my ability to find out if I please" As he said this Ein attempted to peek further into Yue Chen when he stumbled upon a room of darkness in his consciousness. Seated on a black throne in the darkness was a boy dressed in royal attire, each of his fingers wearing silver skeletal rings. The boy gave Ein a contemptuous look then casted his eyes elsewhere. "You are the third to peer at my soul so brazenly, as a reward for your bravery I will not kill you immediately"
Ein was speechless. Not because of the suffocating presence of the boy but due to how terrified he was. The feeling of death had never felt so close Ein could feel the grim reaper's blade slicing the skin of his neck.
Run. He will kill me! Run!! This was the only thing that came to Ein's mind as he tried to escape the darkness but the solid ground beneath his feet had become so intangible it was impossible to escape even if he wanted to.
A sinister smile spread across the boy's lips as he lifted his arm "Be grateful you have entered the presence of a being beyond your puny existence"
Puff! Ein opened his eyes and heaved up a mouthful of blood. His face was pale and sweating, the experience had left a scar on his mind and his eyes had grown dull.
"Brother!"
"I'm okay" Ein responded, wiping the blood from his lips and rising to his feet unsteadily. "The reason she is still in pain is because I am unable to completely remove the dark attribute energy rampaging in her body. The only reason she has been able to hold on this long is because she seems to have already been suffering from a similar curse to the shadow attribute, it apparently became active again once more after being dormant for so long, perhaps you should visit a priest or a monk to have her treated properly"
Yue Chen frowned at Ein's words "a curse?"
"She is a cursed sigil bearer, the fallen dragon's little priestess, does that term sound familiar?"
Yue Chen did not respond to Ein. Looking at Ning Biyu's pale face he could feel a sense of worry that he had never felt before.
"This feeling" Bai Chen who was inside Yue Chen's consciousness suddenly opened his eyes, showing a look of disbelief "It can't be....no maybe I have grown too sensitive over time" Bai Chen gave a self-deprecating laugh and closed his eyes once more.
"..." Yue Chen took Ning Biyu in his arms and prepared to leave then looked back at the brother sister pair "should we meet again I promise to fulfill the condition promised"
"The guilt in your heart is vain, the restlessness within you must be quelled quickly. Time is not in your favor" Ein leaned into Agyth's embraced while heaving between words.
Yue Chen nodded and turned away when Ein suddenly called out to him. "Don't tell me you forgot about my condition"
Yue Chen paused and made a wry smile. He'd forgotten about the agreement between him and Ein and being reminded had made him embarrassed.
Ein's situation was complex yet common and was not what Yue Chen had imagined it would be. Despite their contrast in size Agyth and Ein were actually twins with Ein being the older one and were from the beast clan that lived inside the inheritance space, after killing their uncle who was the chief of the village they were forced to flee under the pursuit of their relatives and had escaped to a small village located beneath the stream. . This came as a surprise to Yue Chen. The inheritance space had no previous records of clans or villages. Yue Chen guessed it must have been due to their unwillingness to be discovered that no living beings were discovered until now.
Yue Chen could guess what Ein wanted him to do. He was most likely in need of protection for some reason he did not mention. Yue Chen narrowed his gaze at Ein but eventually sighed "Do you need protection? I'm only at the Nirvana Realm, Second Sky and without fully recovering the help I can offer is limited.
"What I am asking of you is rather simple" Ein smiled then closed his eyes.
Yue Chen was not convinced that Ein's request would be a simple one and could only solemnly sigh. As he was thinking to himself Yue Chen could hear a Ein's voice in his head.
Ein looked in Yue Chen's direction but no words came from his mouth "Yue Chen my request of you is...."
Yue Chen was surprised at Ein's request yet chose not to question him. Indicating he agreed with a nod Yue Chen placed Ning Biyu on his back and followed after Ein and Agyth whom had started to walk upstream.
"Do not follow us ,pervert!" Agyth snarled at Yue Chen with a disgusted look.
Yue Chen shrugged and smiled wryly. How did I get listed as a pervert?
Yue Chen followed the two upstream under Agyth's scrutinized gaze and after almost an hour they arrived at an open space with an small lake that was clear enough to see the bottom yet barely wide enough to sit the three if they were to take a swim. Chanting an obscure incantation Ein placed his hand above the surface of the water which soon became a deep blue color.
Bloop! Bloop!
Strange sounds could be heard coming from the water as the surface of the lake begun to tremble.
"Come" Ein beckoned to Yue Chen and Agyth before jumping into the lake.
Yue Chen used his true energy to act as oxygen and tightened his hold on Ning Biyu so the torrent would not push her away then dived after the two. After a few minutes of swimming Yue Chen spotted what seemed like a water veil at the bottom of the sea.
Once in the water the space was a lot larger than it seemed and was more like the bottom of the ocean than a lake. Unable to see the bottom of the lake after swimming for a period of time Yue Chen started to feel anxious. Whilst he had recovered from most of his injuries his true energy reserves were less than half. Fortunately they did not have to swim much longer as they were soon transferred to a different space by a transfer array.
The nauseous feeling of being teleported was more intense than usual and Yue Chen's complexion became pale. Before he could recover completely the smell of vomit entered his nostrils as his shoulder was immediately covered with partially digested foods.
"Blaaargh" Ning Biyu wiped her mouth and slid down Yue Chen's back. Her face was pale yet she wore a condescending look as if everyone else was beneath her.
"Don't push yourself, you just woke up" Yue Chen said, offering her a piggyback ride.
"Only my sister is worthy of such an honor" Ning Biyu folded her arms and attempted to walk away when suddenly she was lifted into the air by the collar.
"Don't act tough, I can see you're about to topple over any minute now" Yue Chen said, putting Ning Biyu down again.
"If I had just let you fall when that darn dragon swept you away-" as if she had just remembered something Ning Biyu looked around then asked "where is my sister?"
"We're the only ones that fell, they were probably still confronting the demon dragon afterwards"
"..." Ning Biyu bit her lower lip and frowned. It was an unnatural sight for Yue Chen who had never seen a seven year old with such a stern expression.
"Worry not, you are safe within the veils of this kindom" Ein assured the two.
Bang!
Within a minute of Ein's words the ground shook followed by a deafening explosion right behind the group.