...After Conan left Zoe.
She was sitting in front of the counter of a shop by the street, which she had randomly picked. Her deadpan expression never revealed the curiosity in her eyes as she watched the people hustling and bustling for the day.
But then, the shop owner asked her with a smile. A young man, in his twenties, offered "Need' a drink?"
She subconsciously gulped on hearing the offer. It was then, she realized that she needed a drink—her mortal self that is. "Something cold. but I don't have money with me yet."She curtly said.
"It's okay..."The trader said, "Do you want liquor or beverage?"
"Beverage."She responded "Alcohol, makes me sick, I want something sweet."
"Alright, we have so many things to offer, first I have the amazing Drypple juice, Fresh Morntelle Malt tea, then I have the Dew Sap of Everdale, best served chilled. Oh! and also..."The man started to list his services but got interrupted by the infuriated Zoe.
"Just give me one already, you filthy mortal!"Her Amber eyes showed nothing but anger as she hit the counter with her palm and shouted at the man.
"Y-yes, right away."The man scurried into the shop, to tend to her request.
After a few moments, the man came back with a mug in hand, filled with cold, fragrant green juice. Zoe took it without any further ado and drank, enjoying the sapidity of it.
While she was savoring the flavorsome taste of the juice, a foreign taste invaded her senses making her smile at the mug.
She had been poisoned with a sedative. She couldn't deduce people's thoughts, but she had the habit of savoring tastes more than normal. Thus, she found out, it's not like the sedative will work on her though.
The man has an ulterior motive, so she pretended to sleep. Thinking perhaps, it's something interesting. Hopefully, it'll be, because if it's not, then...
Her lips curled up and formed an inconspicuous smile, as she sensed hushed steps coming toward her.
"What a great way to be welcomed into the human realm."
...
"...The cultivation sects had fallen, all cultivation techniques and manuals were lost, no one can become an immortal now. But two particular sects follow these perverted gods nowadays."
Tianah explained to Conan, who wanted to know about everything, before focusing on what to do next.
An era came to an end when spiritual energy became uncultivatable by the mortals of eardale. It wasn't an exaggeration to say mortals had the best chance at becoming gods, but one in a million does, few become immortals, while most remain mortals with the powers they had attained.
Almost everything had changed...
Eardale is a plane inhabited by mortals, and Existence had chosen beings from this plane to become gods—because only those who start from being powerless have the best chance to, those who were once mortals.
Which doesn't mean immortals can't become gods. Most immortals become pseudo-gods. Having the level of might as some gods, but without divinities.
But, there was no more need for gods. Therefore, Existence put them under gods, to readjust and set the balance one last time.
The same could be said for immortals though, no one can become a god anymore, and even immortals die. They were only called immortals because of their long lifespan and strength, which was like forever to mortals.
"The Goose Creed and The Cubus Coven. The two sects that believe and follow the doctrines of gods that give them the power to acquire more power, through sex."Tianah said, seemingly disgusted.
"You mean dual cultivation?"Conan asked with raised eyebrows.
"No, they use a one-sided cultivation method. Their victims don't survive and they've become quite notorious these recent years."
"Oh? So they take the life force of their victims through sex and convert it to spiritual energy right?"Conan asked with a distorted expression. His old mind inevitably imagined it and he was greatly revulsed
"Ew..."Liam was the same, disgusted.
Kitty, on the other hand, couldn't care less. She was eating her sweets, without any care for the plane.
"You're handsome and smart."Tianah admired Conan's intellect, making Conan smile smugly, he couldn't help it.
"The Cubus Coven are more notorious and powerful as they reap life force through the pleasures they give their victims, while The Goose Creed is a bunch of human traffickers. Women traffickers to be precise, and trust me, you don't want to know how they treat their victims."Tianah continued, leaning close to Conan, looking back at Conan's eyes, yet all she saw was a pretty smiling pinkish face.
'I'm, blushing?'She cupped her cheeks and was about to continue speaking, because she strangely didn't feel like stopping, instead, she wanted to talk more and more, but...
"Where's Zoe?"Conan asked as he rushed over to where Zoe was sitting before he left her. He asked the trader in charge of the shop, but the man said;
"She left."
Conan was starting to panic, as unbefitting for a celestial as it was, he didn't care about anything else but to see her. The world they were in was full of uncertainties and unknown dangers.
There was no guarantee that she would be safe. She was sealed in a mortal form and even though she won't die easily, if she does, then she dies for real as she won't be able to unseal herself and utilize her immortal form.
What if she gets abducted by someone stronger than her mortal form? Will she be able to defend herself against threats that even Conan didn't know about?
"Conan calm down, your sister is strong, she won't get hurt easily, "Tianah reassured him.
"Ol' bro, she's smart. Don't worry about her."Liam said nonchalantly, buying bottled juice from the shop. "Keep the change! I'm rich."He flaunted to the trader, who sweated for unknown reasons.
"Ol' pa, she left a message for you," Kitty said as she munched her sweets. she pointed to a small mud that was emitting Zoe's energy signature, lying at the foot of the counter.
Kitty was the most sensitive to spiritual energies, due to the purity of her spiritual energy, thus, she saw it first.
Conan frowned, he crouched down and touched the small mud, which dispersed into spiritual energy particles and entered his forehead, precisely, where the Oracle eye was sealed.
His vision instantly changed and it all got bluish, he was seeing in place of the mud. Zoe's face appeared, her lips had a green substance staining them, forming a mustache on her upper lip.
"I'll be back!"She softly said with a smile. The smile wasn't normal, and for a second, before his vision returned to normal, he saw a strange glint in her eyes. She found something interesting, without a doubt.
His vision returned to normal and he found himself leaning on Tianah, who was looking at him strangely "What happened."He asked dizzily.
"No, what happened to you? You touched that mud and the next thing, you start falling."Tianah said, a hint of curiosity and worry reflected in her hazel eyes, but more curiosity.
"Oh, It's nothing, I get dizzy whenever I decipher messages like that from my troublesome sister."He lied with a bright smile.
Of course, he and Zoe had never gone to places like this and she had never left him messages like this. She probably knew his Oracle eyes could decipher such messages and that's why she left the message. She is smart but gets easily bored.
And she seemed quite experienced which bothers Conan a bit and relieved him a bit at the same time—for various reasons.
The reason Conan got dizzy was that he couldn't use the Oracle eye in his mortal form as the eye takes transcendent energies to sustain itself, which he had sealed along with his cosmic energy.
All he had left in his mortal body, was his spiritual energy, which wasn't enough to power the Oracle eye, thus, the dizziness.
Conan looked around, he saw Liam buying different things with vigor and his mouth full. Kitty was mobile, eating her sweets, while occasionally waving nonchalantly back at those who greeted her and admired her cuteness.
But someone was missing and he didn't even notice earlier.
"Where's Loki?"He asked urgently and he quickly carried Tianah in a princess carry.
"W-what are you doing?"She tried to resist but there was this feeling in her that didn't want him to stop "I'm a soldier, not a damsel in distress."
"You're going to help me find my brother and we're flying," Conan replied urgently, not minding the reddened face of the soldier.
"W-what?"Tianah asked in disbelief. Was she just overthinking?
"I need to ask you more questions, Tianah."Conan said and looked at kitty "Kitty, look for Zoe. Liam, sit with that man and make sure he doesn't go anywhere."
He said before taking off into the air with Tianah in his arms.
Now, Conan looked like a spoilt young master from a powerful noble family...
After he left, kitty wrinkled her small nose and started sniffing. Then she left, following the trail of Zoe's smell. "She still smells disgusting, even in her mortal form."She loathingly said.
Liam on the other hand sat at the counter where Zoe was before she left. He smiled at the man handling the shop "You have something for me?"
His yellow eyes were vibrant as he grinned at the trader, who only trembled in return.
'Oh, gods!'The trader lamented 'I made a mistake!'
How stupid was he not to consider the fact that the beautiful girl he sold to the Goose Creeds was a young mistress from a powerful family?