Lava spikes flared and water pellets pierced as a cloaked figure ran from a group of 4 humans. Lind was above on a boulder overlooking the valley the 5 people were running through. The singed state of the runner's cloak told of some close calls, but their smooth movement allayed any worry they were injured badly.
Lind used his Soul Eyes and saw that the humans were 2 mono-elementals with a dual and tri-elemental with them. All 4 of them were at the low 7th tier. Their target was harder for Lind to read. The clothes they were wearing had some kind of protection formation to hide the status of its owner.
Lind carefully projected their course and began to prepare. Head on, he might be able to take them out, but it was far too dangerous to fight as he had in the Tri-Clan Tournament. There were no healers ready and resources were limited. His mother had gifted him several pills and pastes, but best to save those for at need only.
The sand gave way to much harder stone, but Lind saw it was barely held together as the wind and sand had eaten away at it. The yellowed path was the only way out, which was perfect for Lind.
He wove his elements carefully and made some simple trap formations. Even at tier 1, they could still affect anyone in the Soul Realm even as a distraction. The mono-elementals were the weakest due to lack of adaptability but they likely had treasures to compensate. Lind hoped to burn some of those treasures.
He checked one more time with his Eyes and then quickly hid himself before pulling his dagger. Fists were reliable, but again, any defensive artifact could break his bones like a twig. The dagger had been a gift from Granny, thus it was a World Realm item. He only prayed they did not have anything above Iron Tier or the dagger could shatter like glass.
The cloaked person sprinting through the opening of the valley and out into the open sands. Lind was about to trigger his traps when he saw something horrifying. He triggered his traps early. The fireball, water whips, and so forth made chaos, but the blinding light caught all but Lind in it.
"If you want to live, come with me, now and do not make a sound until I tell you!" Lind grabbed the arm of the person he had saved. They went to resist but Lind put earth into his arm and yanked them behind him hard. They sprinted behind the very boulder Lind had used to observe the valley.
They had barely gotten on the stone before the sand exploded in an all too familiar way to Lind. An even more massive wurm screeched into the air as sand covered the world. The person in Lind's grasp finally stopped fighting and did as asked. They held completely still, but 4 fools had not had their senses come back yet.
"What happened? Where did she go?! That bi–" The voice was cut short as death claimed him. Lind saw the mouth appendages act like whips to entrap and bring in prey to the main body. He did not even have time to register he was about to be eaten before it was done. The other 3 were frozen, but chose to run rather than stay still.
Lind saw 3 more tendrils almost gleefully grab the ankles of each runner. They flung attacks or tried to use weapons, but all bounced off the tough hide of the wurm. Their screams were cut short as they were all plunged into its mouth. The wurm then swiveled its head around for a time before burrowing back into the sand. A full stomach meant it did not have to wait around to be sure if anything escaped.
Lind held his breath until the void he had noticed moved off at last before relaxing. It was only then that he realized he was still holding the arm of the cloaked person and whipped it back to himself.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to hold on like that." The new person simply rubbed their right elbow before pulling back their hood.
Shoulder length raven black hair surrounded a narrow face colored deep lavender. Virulent green eyes looked out at Lind as she arched her eyebrow at him. It was clear she could sense he was weaker than her, but Lind was unsure by how much. He bowed as he had been taught since little as that was polite.
"I am Lind Frey of the Frey Clan. I only came to help when I heard the shouting. I have no other intention." He kept it simple and assumed she would dismiss him or thank him. Instead, she kept staring at him. Lind had never met a demon before, but he assumed a demon had met humans easily enough before. Maybe not this one?
"Cyntilla." She spoke only her name and that was it. Lind smiled and nodded. He then looked around one more time before hopping off the boulder. He noticed she reached out to stop him and he felt stupid not telling her.
"I have Soul Eyes. Those creatures form a void in the Qi so I can at least get a warning or know if they are gone. It means they are likely in the World Realm though." Shock flashed through her eyes before she looked contemplative. She easily hopped down as well and inspected her cloak.
"Ruined." Another singular word sentence. Lind glanced at it but as it was based on elemental alignments he was not familiar with, he could only agree with her assessment. She made another cloak appear and stored the damaged one away.
Dark leather armor covered her body but Lind could see at a glance it was well worn and sturdy. It did not totally hide her form, but at a guess from similar armor in the Southern District, it likely was highly restrictive to prevent injury. In this heat, it could be deadly. Lind waved his hand before conjuring water and wind in his left and right hand.
Surprise flashed on her face now but she gladly set the cloak down as he kept it above the sand with wind while imbuing it with simple water. The desert would suck normal water dry, but Qi infused water would be able to keep it damp without making it useless. An appreciative nod from her before she donned the new cloak.
"I am going that way to see what I can find. If you wish, I am happy for the company, but I will not force you." Lind pointed towards the center of this place, but he waited as she glanced that way and seemed to think it over.
"Lead." Does she not want to talk? Lind shrugged his shoulders and started out again. He stopped shortly after as he noticed her steps were uneven. She also seemed to be holding her side. He had not noticed before but when he stopped, she hid the injuries. Without much thought, Lind pulled out a vial of salve and a jade pill vial.
"My mother gifted these to me. Please use them." Lind set them down. He gathered she was not too trusting of him yet and she heavily scanned the items before taking them. She then looked around and moved to a nearby outcrop before piercing him with her eyes.
"Away!" Lind got the message and whipped around. He assumed the lotus position and cultivated while she took care of her injuries. He specifically skipped the outcropping with his senses just in case. Demons cultivate variant elements, so he was unsure if she would sense it, but he was not in the mood to be murdered for a mistake.
"Go." A short while had passed but Lind noticed she looked much healthier than before. The lavender skin made it hard to judge, but it had a darker hue now so he equated that to being more rosy like his own. Nodding, he set out again.
Lind did not try for conversation, but at times he felt a strong pressure put on him. WIth that, he was able to see she was also peak tier 6 or low tier 7. They were all only 3 to 4 years older than him, but had progressed so much farther. Kor was likely in tier 5 by now himself back home!
The dunes shifted but Lind did not see any signs of wurms for the rest of the day. They made a camp and the demon was stunned as Lind used fire and earth to make a burn pit once again. The food they had on them was all they had, but Lind hoped to find something soon. Hardened tack was nutritious enough, but not very palatable after 3 days of it.
"Cyntilla, I am going to cultivate my elemental tempering. I will see you in the morning." He saw her nod before she assumed her own lotus position. Lind was about to start when he was stunned by what he saw. An array activated on her armor that seemed to change how the elements got near her.
He watched in fascination as water changed to the bubbling green he had seen before and wind was made into some ephemeral gas that reeked of death. He did not see any other elements and figured she was a dual acid and poison elemental.
He closed his eyes and began to temper his elements. He did not completely shut out his senses. He was glad of company, but he was not naive. She may be grateful, but that did not equate to treating him as a true companion.
****
'Those items were high grade 2!' Cyntilla remembered the effects of the medicine the strange human had leant her. During the chase of those 4 gnats, she had taken several hits but forced her body to move and consumed her own pills to recover on the go. They had only been peak grade 1 so their effectiveness on her was severely limited.
She had come to Lotus Academy to try and establish herself but also to hopefully find a treasure worth enough to trade for Grade 4 medicine for her mother. A strange disease had ceased her lungs and Cyntilla had been forced to watch as her strong mother was getting weaker every day.
Her father, the bastard that he was, never even tried to get proper care. Demons valued strength, but some demons saw disease as a sign a demon was weak regardless of how it happened. Her father was one of those narrow minded morons.
Worse, her father had begun negotiations to marry Cyntilla off to 'make use of her.' She had raged, but then applied for the battles to go to the Lotus Academy. She had flattened her competition like they were mere paper walls. The short swords she excelled at were lethal combined with her poison or acid abilities. Combining the 2 was near unstoppable in her area.
It had impressed her father enough to allow her to go. It was hard to stop her as everyone had seen her skills. Cyntilla had been caught by the 4 humans as she was looking at a reliquary farther west of that valley. If they only wanted to rob her, an open fight was nothing to fear, but she saw the looks of lust in their eyes.
Their clothes had been a hodge podge but she recognized a few telltale signs of hiding where they were from. A chain on their left breast armor revealed they were from the Slavers Guild. They used such subtle decorations to let their fellows know who they are, but Cyntilla had learned of this after some demons had been taken from her hometown.
What mattered was the chain itself, no matter if it was held in a shape or not, but that the Qi would be absorbed by it. Her attacks had been deflected not by the armor alone but the Qi lost to those chains. Once she realized that, she knew what would await her if caught.
The chase had gone on for most of a day but she had seen those massive aether beasts kill more than one person in the few days here. They were blind but almost supernaturally sensitive to sound. This human with Soul Eyes was a spirit blessing her.
She cultivated both her elements and base through the night until dawn. During that time she realized this human had not once asked why she was being chased nor to see if she had found anything. He, in fact, only kept a wary eye on her as any sane person should.
She approved of his actions and appreciated his focus. He had shown 4 elements of the primary set. A powerful cultivator but his tier was so low! He was at least 16 years old from what she could judge, she had been in tier 5 at that age and close to tier 6.
Suddenly, she saw him cast light and darkness on their camp site. The darkness stopped anyone from looking in while the light allowed them to clean up and move onward. It dawned on her at last. A 6 elemental. He was a 6 elemental. Being in the 4th tier was actually impressive rather than poor! She was curious about him but she did not trust him.
They set out for the core of this Ruin sphere to hopefully find something worthwhile. If they were lucky they would, or at least have time to make their way to another one. Three days had passed, 27 remained of their month in the Ruin.