Lind stood in front of the 4 men that were confronting Cyntilla. He had spent 3 days comprehending the use of the staff and tempering his elements with it. Essentially, the burden of combining elements was taken on by the staff itself rather than through Lind's meridians or dantian. While this allowed him to technically use higher tier Soul Arts, it was also not truly the same.
Soul Arts hone the comprehension of the element cores inside a dantian and the deeper mysteries of how they can combine, but the staff simply allowed Lind to mimic such an effect safely. It did allow him to more efficiently temper them, but since he was not actually experiencing the mixing of the elements, it left him still struggling on the comprehension front.
Regardless, it was a problem for later.
"You seem to have gotten something interesting, junior." The leader of the group that had white hair looked greedily at the staff in Lind's hands. Lind almost wanted to laugh. While the staff was a great treasure, it was useless to all but Lind. It was bound to him as part of the inheritance of the technique and one also had to be a 6 elemental to even cause it to extend.
"I assume by their sneak attack attempt, they are all enemies?" Lind ignored them and looked directly at Cyntilla. She had amusement on her face and simply nodded. It was all Lind needed as he wanted to try out what he had learned in the Ruin.
Water and wind suddenly appeared in massive quantities that should not exist in a desert as the world filled with white steam. Lind knew it could not last in this environment, but the temperature was easily used to incite the cover for them both. As if they had long practice, both demon and man moved inside the steam in perfect harmony.
Lind used his Soul Eyes to find his targets but was stunned to see only 3 remained where they had been before. The leader had already moved! He felt the staff gain weight as earth and darkness increased its gravity. Lind's own body was strengthened by earth alone. The satisfying thud as Lind took down one opponent was gratifying but revealed his location.
As if she was prescient, Cyntilla flashed out of the mist and slashed at an incoming sword to Lind's back and took one of the men away. Lind did not stop his momentum and brought the staff around again, but he had forgotten to lighten the gravity. His aim was altered but still effective, too effective.
The last of the men appeared just in time for the staff to be swung up between his legs and crash into his torso from below. Both Lind and the man looked into each other's eyes. One begged to know what offense he had brought while the other winced in empathetic pain. Lind watched as he dropped unconscious on the ground.
The steam cloud was still present but Lind could not find the last man. His Soul Eyes revealed Cyntilla by her elements and the Qi of her opponent. Where had the last one gone? Lind used his Soul Touch to feel the Qi he had mixed together into the air. He knew his own Qi far better than anyone, but all he was able to filter out was to see the 2 currently in battle even clearer and the normal background Qi.
"Is there a Talent that can deceive me?" Lind mumbled but his mind held no such knowledge. The Talents he possessed were already ridiculous so Lind could accept that there were others just as over the top. He stretched his ability as much as he could but could not find where his target had gone.
Cyntilla seemed safe in battle which struck Lind as odd. The best chance to attack had been in the chaos of those few moments, but neither of them had been blindsided. Where was he?
Lind closed his eyes and channeled light Qi in a simple dispersion pattern. The staff helped with combining elements, but single elements could not compare to his control. In his mind, the Qi simply passed through the world until it hit obstructions. His Soul Touch felt the resonance each time and quickly identified what was being hit.
Light passed through most objects but would still be distorted. Lind followed the paths and finally found something odd. There was a void of light moving slowly towards Cyntilla at a steady pace. Lind still did not feel any Qi, but the light Qi was being moved by something. He had to act quickly and swung the staff in a circle towards the 2 combatants.
Before anyone could register it, water and earth combined into a vine whip that flew across the distance and smacked into something invisible. The air distorted and seemed to peel away from the white haired man behind it.
"How?!" The shock on his face was barely registered by Lind as he quickly changed elements. He pooled light and darkness together with wind. It was his first time truly using 3 elements in battle. All 3 of the people in front of him were knocked over as a shock wave blasted outward. Cyntilla was at the edge of it, but looked in anger at Lind.
He offered no explanation as the staff in his hands slammed into the sands and spikes shot up around the 2 men. Instantly an artifact was lifted up where Cyntilla had been standing previously. She was stunned as she seemed to recognize it.
Lind only saw water and light Qi in the item but that aligned with the white haired man's dantian as well. He was at mid-tier 7, thus Lind took no chances with something near Cyntilla. With all foes conquered, Lind leaned on the staff. There was a problem.
The staff allowed him to channel the elements and in training he had no issue, but now he found he consumed Qi at a frantic rate unlike anything he had before. His limitations before now were showing his lack of regulating the release of his techniques.
"Thank you, Lind. That must have been planted by the Shen noble earlier. It would have captured a demon easily." Cyntilla's description confused Lind but he had no time to ponder it as his Eyes saw a new problem.
Whether it was because he claimed the treasure, or the battle had caused enough commotion, voids were appearing in the sands! He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the few intact structures in the Ruins.
He also released the earth Qi holding the men as they ran.
"RUN! Wurms are coming!" Lind yelled and suddenly was swept up in Cyntilla's arms. He was feeling his muscles shake and had no time to worry about his pride. The 2 men looked confused at their former enemies before dunes exploded all around them.
It was not 1 or 2, but 7 wurms! The massive bodies rose clearly even in the drifting dust clouds while horrible screeches filled the air. Shadows suddenly darkened the sky as all looked up to see the massive wingspan of rocs filling the skies. All hope drained from the 2 from Shen. Their comrades were quickly abandoned as they sprinted after Cyntilla and Lind.
Lind watched in horror as the 2 he defeated were swallowed by wurms who tried to fight over the bodies. The other 2 made a horrible mistake not running when Lind told them to. Rocs dove at the same time as wurms tried to snare them. The battle might have been advantageous if not for the beasts being at the World Realm.
The wave of Qi power shattered the meridians of the 2 men causing them to collapse in pain. In a heartbeat, both were swallowed into a roc and wurm each. Lind noticed the wurms did not see Cyntilla, but the rocs did.
Doom seemed to close in as Cyntilla poured Qi into her body. While poison and acid could not be used like Lind's elements to enhance her speed or strength, it still could give a boost if the proper equipment was on her body. It was still not enough.
Lind held the staff up in desperation and did a final blast with all 6 elements and the Qi he had remaining. Emerald flames engulfed his vision and the world fell into darkness for him. Lind prayed they made it to the Ruin.
****
Cyntilla felt her muscles burn but refused to let go of Lind. She did not need his talents to know death was closing in. She had been so stupid! She knew that once a Ruin was claimed, its protections could fade. They should have left that place as quickly as possible but the idiots from Shen had foiled that.
The medicine Lind had given her flashed through her mind and tears threatened just as the world changed around her. Emerald fire suddenly engulfed everything and LInd passed out. His staff shortened to a small cylinder that he did not let go of. Cyntilla felt several things after that.
The elements in her dantian seemed to find new strength and her body felt lighter than it had in hours. All the tension and fatigue from battle fell away but what made her stunned was the silence.
Every wurm and roc stopped screeching and just looked at them as they finally found shelter in the Ruin. She almost dropped Lind at that point but was able to carefully set him down. He was simply over extended from what she could tell.
She looked back and was in awe. The wurms had all bent down their heads and the rocs had landed to do the same. What was going on? What was that strange flame Lind had summoned? Could it be the ultimate technique from the Ruin? She had no answers but watched as the beasts almost quietly dispersed and left them alone.
There were no signs of the 5 men that attacked them. A frown crossed her face but truly it was not their fault entirely. Despite besting the men in battle, Lind killed no one directly. He even freed the 2 before the beasts arrived!
Cyntilla collapsed at that point and simply was glad to be alive. She retrieved the medicine and saw it was fine. The storage treasure would keep it safe but she just had to see them at that moment. If they worked as Lind said, her long cherished dream would come true.
She glanced at his right cheek as her lavender skin darkened. She had no idea what he all experienced in that Ruin, but he had come out very powerful by any standard. He had saved her 3 times now and even offered her medicine she desperately needed.
"Who are you Lind Frey?" Her words carried on the winds of the dunes but no one answered. She hoped to find the answer herself one day, but for now, they had to recover.
****
"Interesting." The 3 academy Elders sat in a special room not far from the Ruin grounds. While there were many Ruins that had been delved and plundered entirely, there were many that had never been fully revealed. Every year, part of the reason the Empire allowed new applicants to enter that place, new treasures were uncovered or at least new parameters were revealed.
The Ruin that Lind and Cyntilla had gone to was the strangest one known. Many people had reached the center only to be completely repelled by the formation barrier. Elders and researchers had spent millenia trying to crack it as the power of the barrier far exceeded most other Ruins known.
Now, someone had finally claimed the treasures but it was one that many would disregard. A 6 elemental and the treasure brought out seemed uniquely helpful to the same type of cultivator.
"Something we could offer to the Saint Kingdom? I have heard the young prince just broke through and is a 6 elemental." The demon spoke calmly but she saw the human elder shake his head. He pointed to the staff in the image they viewed on a crystal projection.
"It is bound. It does not leave his hands despite passing out. Only bound items do that." Both the other Elders nodded as they confirmed this. It had only been an idea but the Academy was always trying to build relations to other nations. Having the Saint Kingdom in debt to the Darkmoor Kingdom would rankle some ministers, but both kings knew the importance of peace.
"His tier is low but with that staff ability, we may finally see a 6 elemental overcome the barrier of the World Realm. We will evaluate the boy at that time." The gruff voice of the human Elder made the other 2 nod in agreement once again. If a 6 elemental could truly breakthrough into the World Realm with the help of that staff, it would become a monumental item for the entire mortal realm!