Everything clicked to Dongmei at one moment. One realization came to another. She felt complicated. From a feeling of jealousy to guilt to anger to frustration into something she could hardly describe any tangible emotion.
What was she supposed to feel?
She came to realize how Shinji made her realize how jealous she was of Sirena. What made her even more surprised is that she let him find out about it, after all, it doesn't take a genius to find out who is pulling the strings but it does take a very decisive person to take action against it... something that most people fail to do.
Even though she lacked the social skills but as a princess, she knew how schemes work and she wasn't a stranger to these things. King Qing was known for his brute power but he ingrained a philosophy into his descendant that 'With great power came great responsibility.'
One must be careful of having the power and not wantonly use it else it may damage the reputation and political power. Don't be tricked by others' schemes and act wisely. Although King Qing valued strength, like most people, to be the most important, he wouldn't be a king without having intelligence and wisdom to back it up.
"So, why are you doing this?", Dongmei asks.
"Don't misunderstand me when I say those things. I just can't have you doing something impulsive whenever I'm not around so I'm giving you something that you are familiar with, responsibility. I'm sure you can reconsider your actions as it is very essential for the next for days.", Shinji smiles to reassure Dongmei.
Dongmei thinks about it. She would normally have dealt with the monster horde running rampant first but because she saw Shinji and Sirena, she went and came immediately to find out what is going on.
She sighs, she also knew she was more concerned about if she had killed him in previous iterations, which was also the reason why she didn't immediately kill Sirena in front of Shinji.
Dongmei pinches her nose bridge and furrows her brows then lets out a defeated and frustrated sigh.
"This isn't over. After we deal with the Kagai-Sha, we must settle this.", Dongmei says and was about to turn around and leave in annoyance until Shinji grabbed her by her sleeve.
"Why don't you stay? I think the others have it covered and can deal with the beast horde.", Shinji pleads to her.
Dongmei opens her mouth and looks at Sirena with a glare but then looks back at Shinji and closes her mouth again, "Ok...what is it now?", She really couldn't pass up an opportunity if Shinji asked it.
"Have learned calligraphy? I heard it was a simple pastime among cultivators. I actually have an inkstone[1].", Shinji suggests to Dongmei.
Inkstone, inksticks, and inkbrush were used by calligraphers to make their works of art. It is also used by some sects to write down authentic martial techniques or records.
Shinji passes the items to Dongmei which she accepts. She forgot that she once was praised for her calligraphy skills when she was younger, it may also be the reason why she also has artistic talent.
The feeling of holding an ink brush was familiar to her, it was just like the paintbrush but it still made her reminisce. She grounded the stick against the stone while meditating on her state of mind. Sirena had added a few drops of water beforehand and sat opposite of her on a convenient table.
Shinji had made the perfect furniture as it is a circular table in which materials were made of durable but smooth texture exotic stone, and the middle of the table had a hole specifically to place a cauldron in. This is where Shinji has been cooking his food. Shinji also sat down between Sirena and Dongmei and took up a brush.
Sirena also took part in this art activity as she also was taught lessons in the arts for parties and gatherings. The nobility cherishes etiquette and status next to strength so it's no wonder Sirena knew painting as a magician should learn painting to help their visualization, a technique used to help in negating mana costs and learn the essence of spell tweaking.
"It is best to enjoy so I would like you to brush anything you feel like painting. Of course, that means don't try to impress me. I've already been wowed.", Shinji's calm voice permeates the silence it seems to have worked on both of the girls.
Sirena thought for some time and began mixing the paint given by Shinji. She was quite shocked that she couldn't hear Shinji's thoughts anymore but it eventually gave a clean silence, even so, it gave way to concern for her own thoughts.
She began going into a state of turmoil but eventually came into a calm. She also realized that Shinji was capable of controlling his thoughts all this time. She now seemed to be in the same predicament as Dongmei. The only thing she did however was to come into a calm and paint.
What was she supposed to do? Sirena couldn't just make any drastic decision immediately. Unlike Dongmei who is impulsive, she is more anxious and afraid to make actions that could make something wrong happen.
What snapped her out of her state was a snap of an inkstick. Sirena looks over to Dongmei whose calm was interrupted by Shinji's words. Dongmei caught of glimpse of Sirena and made a confused expression seeing the latter's behavior.
Dongmei just shakes her head and thought of what to write already. Sirena being just as confused also thought of what to paint. Shinji seems to be in a dazed state, his eyes unfocused.
Shinji didn't think of anything, everything he did seemed so unconscious that it looked like more of a habit than anything else. With an inkbrush in one hand and a paintbrush in the other, his strokes may be natural but stale, it wasn't anything new but surprisingly the world around him was not.
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Quad, Drax, Adalinda, and Audelia met up with Lin, Albert, and Kaitlynn.
"The numbers aren't dying down, in fact, it's getting stronger.", Kaitlynn looks around after analyzing the numbers.
Drax gave his food to Quad, Adalina, and Audelia, "It's a good thing I took too much with me. You should eat up.", he also casts [Beserk] and runs past Kaitlynn.
"You seem very eager to fight. Well don't get cocky.", Kaitlynn says and manifests a vague shadow to match Drax's speed. She learned from the fight with Shinji and thought of changing up her tactics.
When the shadow got close to a monster, the shadow splits into much smaller shadows and then materializes into scythes spinning rapidly. It immediately culls the numbers. Drax also began an eager rampage.
Lin also dashes through and makes deadly holes in the armies. Small monsters and regenerative monsters were stabbed with pinpoint accuracy and with speed surpassing Drax.
Albert dealt with the back where there are monsters with long-range attack methods. He became more conservative and calculative. His spell-making speed was the cost but it wasn't like it couldn't be trained back up again.
Although it didn't seem like it, Quad, Adalinda, and Audelia were very tired having recently gone through hellish training. Luckily, they realized the effect of Shinji's food as most of their fatigue and mental tiredness was restored. This was also the case when Drax, Kaitlynn, Lin, and Albert ate Shinji's food.
The three took a while to rest, letting the effects of the food set in then they joined the battle. Audelia supported everyone with her spells which invigorated them. Adalinda's spells are very effective against the many monsters leaving them scorched.
Adalinda also adopted not to be reckless and brought a sword to cut off any burning part that might spread around and hinder her friends. Quad also became very helpful as he caused huge disarray between the monsters.
A monster may want to kill and eat races but they can also fight against each other so Quad came in handy as the monster horde is fighting against itself letting everyone else fight freely.
""GRAHHHHHH!"", Multiple loud roars resounded so Kaitlynn, Albert, and Audelia looks in the direction of the source to find 3 rank-6 monsters.
"Tch! Drax, can you stall it for time?", Kaitlynn asks as she thought of making a one-shot weapon. Drax didn't say anything under the effect of [Beserk] but he responds by shifting his foot and kicking the ground shooting his through the horde toward the monsters.
3-Star [Poison Rings: Hog Ring]
Multiple [BeinSprout] died before they could catch up to Drax. Lin made a clear path for Drax to run on. Albert also rushes forward and is the first to stall the three rank 6[2] monsters.
Multiple, Magnified, and Intensified 2-Star [Light Ray]
[BushWolf], one of the rank-6 monsters, dodges most of the rays but some of them were able to hit due to the sheer number and size of the spell.
[FloWerm], a giant worm seemingly made of flowers, didn't dodge and was hit by most of the projectiles resulting in the monster roaring in anger since its incredible defense lessened the damage to only superficial burns.
[Wood Flicker], which is surprisingly a flying monster made of dark wood only had to flap upwards to avoid the few rays that were left.
Kaitlynn shouts to Albert, "The worm is blind! Target it!", she says and makes several chains come out of the FloWerm's shadow to restrain the monster from burrowing, something Kaitlynn guessed out of Earth's worm behavior.
Albert concentrates and several blasts hit the monster but unfortunately not all of them could hit because the worm is wriggling too much out of desperation, even breaking the chains occasionally.
Drax had a passing thought in his head, 'Augh, that worm looks horrible. Is that what Terraria worms[3] would like if they were realistic?', he jumps and punches a segment of the FloWerm's body.
2-Star [Flash] + 2-Star [Temper] + 2-Star [Tungsten] = [Tungsten Bullet]
Having sensed danger, he kicks off the worm which adds to the damage. He also avoids a giant wing of wood about to slam into the place where his body was supposed to be a moment ago.
Lin also arrives to help Drax but is forced to block an attack from the ferocious BushWolf. The monster's jaws enlarge as the leaves relocate and fold turning the teeth larger and sharper. In a few moments, the monster's head doubles in size while the body halves.
2-Star [Trench Traversing: Rift Run]
Lin grits his teeth as the wolf bite down on him. He forcefully breaks out of the bite holding on to his spearhead. In one swift motion of back and forth, he disentangles himself while also breaking one of the monster's teeth.
3-Star [Poison Rings: Scorpion Ring]
The wolf retracted and pounces again. Lin seems to have a flash of inspiration, his eyes seeing what his martial art could be capable of. He could see himself blasting a hole through the jaws of the monster.
And so, he does as he saw and makes a hole through the wolf. Although it was not big the hole went through all the way and out to the other side of the monster. The wolf roar in pain and reshuffles its leaves.
Lin took the chance to run past it, he know that he can't destroy every single leaf on the wolf without taking up too much of his time. He made his way to the FloWerm.
Drax on the other hand is at a disadvantage due to the Wood Flicker always staying above and only swooping when attacking. He kept dodging and couldn't get a hit in but then he suddenly changes both the spell on his arms.
Magnified 2-Star [Shock] + Intensified 2-Star [Temper] + Hardened 2-Star [Copper] = Modified [Copper Shock Impact]
Intensified 2-Star [Flash] + Intensified 2-Star [Temper] + Hardened 2-Star [Tungsten] = Modified [Tungsten Bullet]
Intensified 2-Star [Insulate]
With his arms pulled back, he bends his knees and in an instant jumps at a speed on par with Lin temporarily. He timed the jump at the exact moment the monster flew down.
Drax's arms glowed so brightly that it made the surrounding seem darker in comparison. Drax launches them toward the beak of the monster which is both the strongest and its weakest point. Drax not being bothered by the damage feels his own arm being stabbed by a huge amount of pain.
It was a pays off fortunately and the wooden bird's beak broke and the monster screams in pain. Drax sadly lost control of one of his arms while the other, though controllable, it in a very bad state.
Intensified and Multiple 2-Star [FireStorm]
Magnified and Continuous 2-Star [LeaBurn]
The shadow under Drax makes a crane-like claw and pulls him back for treatment. The bird lost control of its flight direction and is forced to stay on the ground. Adalinda also runs to take Lin's place and fires out a torrent of fire from the air to scorch the wolf. She also casts [LeaBurn] making all the grass around and under the monster burn in fire.
Intensified 2-Star [Heat Proof]
Adalinda rushes into the burning field and watches the monster, she can't have the wolf running away or rampaging, or else the forest may burn too heavily due to the beast breaking out.
Suddenly the large shadows created by the huge forest fire turn into a mass of shadow and solidify into a huge mallet. Kaitlynn restored her joy using [Cold Mind] for a moment.
"Eat This!", She says with an excited and beautiful smile. The wolf was smashed in and consumed by the flames that grew every second. Adalinda sighs and stops her spells and withdraw back to fight the weaker monsters due to her mana shortages.
Kaitlynn couldn't dwell on her joy too much so she reverts back to an emotionless expression and continues slaughtering the monster horde. With joint cooperation between Drax and Audelia, the former's unusable arm become mobile again.
Drax runs back into the horde to take Quad's place. Quad had left after seeing the growing fire so he and Albert, who is recovering mana, were left to take care of the small fry, not like it wasn't beneficial to his leveling anyway so Drax didn't mind.
[MetaStone Fist: RockFeller Fist]
Quad punches the ground and the burning grass is diminished significantly due to all the earth scattering around. He then feels a rumble and is pushed away by Lin. He finds a giant flower with rows of teeth in the interior of its petals bursting out from the ground.
Lin turns back and confronts the worm only to dodge it quickly.
2-Star [Trench Traversing: Cavern Pace]
He runs on the worm due to his momentum which angers the worm making it turn around and rise up. Lin looks at the monster's head drawing nearer and uses the opportunity to attack. His iris seems to see a purple ring that he will definitely stab a hole through.
3-Star [Poison Rings: Hornet Ring]
Lin is swallowed by the flowery monster but the former was in too much concentration to notice that. He stabs the spear on the insides of the worm not making a hole burst through but through the opposite direction. What came after is spectacular, Lin went through a ring of purple that flew past him and it hits the worm's head making it wriggle and writhe in anguish.
3-Star [Poison Rings: Scorpion Ring]
He does it again and stabs a hole through the worm's midsection. A purple poisonous ring went ahead of Lin and badly damages the end of the FloWerm's body.
Lin then got out of the worm to find himself with a new understanding of his martial arts.
He turns his head to see Quad fighting for his life against the Wood Flicker. Although the monster has lost its flying advantage, it didn't impede its incredible speed. Quad could only last due to his resilience and tactic.
He disorients the bird multiple times and the bird with not much familiarity on land couldn't get a good grip but unfortunately, animalistic instinct led to it adapting to the situation quickly.
Kaitlynn, who is observing the overall battleground, noticed it and supported him. She couldn't pull Quad back due to the bird's speed. If only the bird were distracted then she could have taken Quad like with Drax's situation. The only thing she can do is impede the monster using chains since her weapons aren't fast enough to get a hit on it.
With Lin out, Quad retreats as the former takes the monster on. Lin couldn't get an opportunity to do a big strike as the monster's relentless strike kept overwhelming him. Kaitlynn thought quickly and stops her attacks to make a big move.
She imagined a boomerang but then made it completely sharp on all ends. She spun it rapidly, with each spin faster than its last. The boomerang also became bigger and bigger.
The monster was alerted by the threat but as much as Lin is being overwhelmed by attacks, the monster is also preoccupied with killing the human that it deems dangerous seeing it kill a monster of the same rank as it.
It made that mistake, and it would be it's last since the boomerang is then released by Kaitlynn and the bird couldn't react on time. It had shifted its body but it lost its wing in the process.
With only half of its attack speed, the bird is now easy to kill so Kaitlynn went back to killing the still huge amount of rank 5 or less monsters.
Even rank 5 monsters can be troublesome due to their unique traits. Lin stabs multiple holes through the monster leaving the body with traces of purplish poisoned openings.
With that disaster past, the rest of the monster horde became much less complicated and everyone worked together to cull the numerous amounts of monsters.
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Back to Shinji, I ask, what can get a human to express themselves the most?
[1]: [Inkstone is a Chinese stationery used in calligraphy but it can also reference Inkstone, the site to write novels for webnovel.]
[2]: [There is a certain phrase in MTL cultivation novels. 3,6 and 9 ranks which represent the early, middle, and late stages of cultivation. This can also represent ranks in status too.
[3]: [Terraria is a pixel sandbox video game and it somehow has a lot of worms in it, so much so that it is the first thing I turn to when I put plants and worms together. other than that I would link Terraria with eyes from the game's certain bosses but correct me if I'm wrong]
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Author's Note:
I'm still thinking about that 1k word chapter thing but I'm still too preoccupied with school to actually consider something so I'll take my time if I have to do so. :P