Chapter 138 - Newcomers

Well, that was that.I made my way outside despite the warning I would be watched. There was nothing I could do about it, so might as well get out of the boredom down in the ground. The denial of freedom threw a wrench in my plans, and still had another few days until the library opened back up.It had been a while since I last visited my friend Ren, so I decided to take a look. Also, I wanted to see how Alyx was doing. If he became proficient in alchemy, that could be a great boon for me. If I had a trusted alchemist, I might be able to create some unorthodox potions… or poisons, in case I needed them.[How's my friend doing?] I greeted Lilly with a smile."Oh, Gerald! Haven't seen you in a while. Ren and Alyx are in the back. Thanks for introducing him, he was a real help."[Thanks, Lilly!]I went around the corner and knocked on the door. I heard noises from inside and the distinct sound of heavy steps. Ren Kong opened the door and poked his head out."Who…? Oh, Gerald!" He jumped out and gave me a bear hug. "It's good to see you! Also… Damn, you had another growth spurt?"[Hello to you too.] I smiled. He was very observant. I had reached my ideal height of 220cm, or somewhere around there, just recently. Unfortunately, I had nothing to confirm my size, but it felt right. I was still smaller than Ren though. Even though both of us had large frames, he remained bigger. Not stronger though. I was confident I outclassed him by a large margin. Not that it mattered since we were friends.[How's Alyx doing? I hope you didn't torture him too much.] I spoke in jest."Haha, he's been great!" Ren slapped me on the back and then gestured to step inside. "Alyx, look who's here!"I entered the alchemy room, and the scent of medicine hit me in the face like a brick wall. Just from the smell alone, I felt reinvigorated and more alert. They had to be making some potent stuff!"Ah, Gerald?"I saw Alyx standing by some sort of contraption and messing with… heat and pressure dials? Weird. Anyway, he had a whole table of flasks and bowls with powders and liquids of all kinds beside him. I didn't even bother identifying them as it would take all day. And I would most likely fail."Sorry if I can't greet you properly, but this is a crucial step!" Alyx called over the sound of whistling steam.He then began tossing various powders and liquids into a large cauldron and mixed them intensely. Sweat was gathering on his brow from the heat and physical effort, but he showed no signs of slowing down, and he became even more concentrated as time went on."We are currently making the Vigorous Vitality Pill. It's a delicate step mixing all the reagents together." Ren Kong explained unprompted. "Later, we'll still have to distill and concentrate the brew, but that does not need much supervision. Anyway, as you can see, the kid is a great learner! He really came in the nick of time and helped us expand our stock during the Beast Tide. We sold so much more than I would have imagined. The kid has a talent for Alchemy, that's for sure!"I noticed a small smile form on my young friend's face, but it quickly faded as his attention returned to the work at hand.[Well, I'm glad it all worked out. I might have to order some pills from you two in the future.] I smiled and then pointed at the dials. [Though I have a question about those...]"Ah, well…" Ren Kong rubbed the back of his head in what I could only guess was embarrassment. "I'm ashamed to say that I can't afford a proper Formation. That's the best we can do to keep the flames steady."[Oh, so that's the reason… But, why not just do it manually then? Wouldn't that be easier?]"Are you kidding me?" Ren Kong laughed. "Not to mention that my Fire Affinity is nowhere near good enough to do that, even if it was, I do not have the luxury of standing around for half a day for the brew to finish. I don't know of anyone who would do that."[Ah… Forgive my ignorance, I had no idea it took so long.]"A common mistake. How about I make you some tea while we wait for Alyx to finish? He should be done soon anyway."[I'll gladly accept your offer. I haven't had tea in… I actually can't remember when was the last time I had it.]"Ah, then you definitely have to try it!" Ren insisted and went to prepare a cup. I sat at the table and waited patiently while he heated up some water and mixed it with dried herbs. It tasted lovely, and the aroma was nice too. Very relaxing.The giant then sat down as well with a cup and we began to chat about various unimportant things. Sometime later Alyx joined in as well, and he got a cup too, for his efforts.We drank tea and talked for a while, catching up on rumors swirling around the Sect and stuff. It was nice.***Hours later, I left and took a stroll around the outer perimeter of the Outer Sect. New recruits were just situated and given the task of building their own little village, just as we had to when we first arrived and decided to check them out. I had nothing better to do anyway.I cloaked myself and my form became transparent, and with quick steps, I flew between the trees. I stepped on golden steps, allowing me to walk on air and not produce any sound.Conjuration was a very useful skill in that regard. Very versatile. As long as you had imagination, the things you could do with it were countless.It didn't take me long to find the new newby village. It simply continued around the Sect a bit further away from the Talonfall Village. That's how the Sect slowly expanded, year by year, by adding little villages on its borders. It was a clever design.Of course, as people moved through the Realms, the Inner Sect had to expand too, but that happened slowly, as there was still plenty of space.I quickly hid in the canopy of a nearby Ironbark and found a good vantage point. A quick count gave about 70-80 kids. It was difficult to get the exact number as I couldn't see all of them at once, and they were moving around, but it was close.I didn't know whether the lower number was because of natural variability, or it was a result of the deadly Beast Tide. Either way, the little group was not the only one that joined. Many other villages sprung up on the other sides of the Sect. The area Myriad Beast Sect controlled was large after all, and the villages inside it, many.I observed from afar as the group below struggled to break the tough bark with their axes and chisels. Curiously, I grabbed the trunk beside me and squeezed. My fingers sank in and the bark crumbled like rotten wood. Comparing that to the year prior when I could barely damage the wood with my magic, I resisted the urge to whistle in wonder.I clapped my hands to get the wood pulp out when I noticed a little beasty sneaking closer to the camp. Actually, there were two of them, crawling through the grass.[Sneak-attacking the kids, huh? I don't think so.]My eyes glowed and I readied myself to blast the Giant Rats to pieces when I heard someone speak behind me."Intervening is forbidden. Stand down."[Who-?!]I whipped my head around but could see nobody. I frantically scanned my surroundings with a frown and then switched to infrared vision. I noticed a shimmer of heat on a nearby branch and secretly grinned. I was so done with invisible pricks sneaking up on me.Pretending to be confused, I secretly gathered my powers. A second later, I blasted the Solar Ray at my invisible opponent, and it hit!Well, it hit the barrier that shimmered into existence. The owner behind it didn't reveal itself and instead, I heard it jump away.[Drats! Stupid barrier.]"I shall forgive the attack but do not do that again. This is your first and final warning." I heard the voice again. It was coming from all around me, quite was freaky.[Who Are you?! Why are you following me?] I shouted."That's not important."[Are you also from the Midnight Order? Did the Sect Master order you to do this?] I asked, yet received no response. That was as good as straight admitting it. And I didn't like it.[What's your name?] I shouted. I expected some equally stupid to Darkness or Shadow, something about night or the moon, but once more, there came no reply.[Not going to answer?] I said to nobody in particular. [Then I'm going to call you Silver, silver like the color of my blades. Let me warn you, Silver, if you sneak up on me again, I will kill you. That's a promise!]That finally prompted a response."Don't take it too far, kid. We will be watching you." The voice sounded distant and was getting quieter towards the end. Clearly, whoever was messing with me, was leaving. Or they just wanted me to think that.[Damn ninjas.]With the invisible prick gone, I sat down on the branch and returned back to kid-watching. The two Giant Rats already attacked, and one kid got bitten in the leg before the others reacted. They all went into panic, but about ten of them took their axes and jumped on the rats, butchering them like animals.The fight was short yet brutal, but the aftermath was chaotic.Some rushed to stabilize the boy's leg, others began to cry in fear, and some began to frantically look around in search of another attacker, yet two of them quickly took the lead and tried to calm everyone down.The subconscious characters of everyone there were revealed with brutal efficiency. I had to admit, that the Myriad Beast Sect knew how to forge their soldiers. They would be bathed in the blood of their enemies from the day they joined, till the day they died.When your life was on the lie, the truth would come to light. And those brave ten, I remembered their faces well. They were worthy of respect.Those running away screaming and crying, however, would be the first ones to go. The world of Cultivators had no room for cowards.***I continued watching well into the night, marveling at how motivated everyone became after that little scare. They had another 33 full days till the end of the month, and they had barely just started. There were nearly half fewer in number than our group, so they had to work quickly to bring an Ironbark down. But with the new motivation, I believed they could do it.The kid also survived and should recover in a few weeks, so there were no casualties. It seemed the wound was also more superficial than they previously thought.Well, it was his fault for the misunderstanding anyway. Who asked him to scream as if his whole family was getting butchered while he was getting slowly roasted on the grill?