It's been a month since Ryu have been stuck in the forest trying to figure out a way to get to the capital city without while avoiding those dreadful auras he could feel in the surroundings. At first he had started off quite well going on the same path he saw ahead but he came to realise that the path he followed was just one of the many created by adventurers who came into the forest to hunt.
He had picked the one that faced towards the direction of the capital but it led to a dead end and when he tried to create his own path he came across the reason why there was a dead end there. A level 6 silver scaled serpent laid there and was staring right at him. The moment his blindfolded eyes came across the creature, he instinctively hopped off the back of the horse and…
BOOOMM!!!
The horse was blasted to bits by a massive tail. He immediately retreated from that area and took another path and this time he didn't dare to just move recklessly.
The encounter with the silver scaled serpent made him realise that some of this beast could hide from his senses . And on his shoulder laid the unconscious Maia who seemed to be hanging on death's door .
Her injuries were completely healed but her consciousness seemed to have gone too far and Ryu had no idea how to assist with that. He just knew that she would survive and would come back for his head since there's no way someone as powerful as her won't be aware that he touched her and even threw her like a bag of luggage and given the amount of pride she had, that was likely a death sentence for him.
So the best he could do was carry her along while being careful. And strangely since he started carrying her on his shoulders while walking, he hadn't encountered any powerful beasts and even when he approached the territory of the ones he could feel , they still cautiously retreated from the region while staring at him warily.
Some time ago he grew to understand that Maia's divinity was masking his aura so this creatures were being wary of him. And the realisation gave him a great sense of boldness that brought him this far within a moment.
He had wanted to fly but the moment he soared into the sky, the amount of pressure locked on him sent him crashing down into the forest. So he had been walking all the way. At this time now it's about 3 months since he left the academy. He couldn't help but wonder how Finral and the others were doing. His mind drifted to a certain man but he just shook his head and continued.
After another 2 months of journeying in the wild Ryu finally came out the other side but he was still miles away from the capital. This time he spread his wings and darted into the distance, he wasn't going to be reserved anymore. He wanted to get there as soon as possible. The previous two months could be said to be one of the roughest months of his life. Maia would wake from time to time and grumble some gibberish he couldn't understand then go back to another deep sleep.
He had tried using emotions to steer her consciousness awake but it didn't work or let's just say it worked albeit slowly. Most of the time he was left exhausted when trying to do it, getting into the head of such a powerful cultivator was no joke at all.
"Get in line everyone and anybody who causes a fuss will be thrown out, I won't repeat myself!!". A guard yelled out at the crowd that gathered at the majestic capital city gates.
"Name??"
"Ryu"
"Visiting or migrating?"
"Migrating"
"100 silver coins"
Ryu paid the money immediately for both his stay and Maia's. She had woken up some days ago but it seemed she wasn't quite herself all she knew was her name and that was all. Ryu collected the plaque that was given to him as he made his way into the city.
He looked around curiously. The population in the capital could take up all 10 cities he had cross to get here and even more, the city was so vast that he felt that it would take him double of the time he took to come here just to fly round it.
Ryu took Maia by the arm and the picked a random street and started moving. He wanted to look for an inn so he could get some proper rest.
"Did you see that??"
"Yes ,Soo beautiful.."
Ryu heard this types of comments around him and couldnt help but look at Maia all over again.
"Why are you staring?" Maia asked quite cottishly a total contrast to her real personality. She could be seen looking at her feet shyly as she ate at her fingers. All she knew was Ryu was her guardian and that was all. She could feel his aura resonated with hers although it felt similar but it was different which made her come to the conclusion of him being her guardian else he would have been a big brother .
But Ryu knew exactly what type of terrifying creature he was walking hand in hand with, when he felt all the death glares and ogling eyes around him he couldn't help but shake his head.
Maia's cultivation was now back to the body tempering realm stage 6. She couldn't get past it for the time being due to the damage she took to her soul, but her attacks weren't something even a transcendent will dare to take head on. Although they might survive but a few bones will be crushed if they took her attack head on.
With that thought in mind Ryu was at ease.
"They can all come, it's been long I battled myself" . Ryu muttered while he pulled Maia along with him.
In another plane far away . A majestic castle could be seen on the peak of a mountain, behind it stood three golden suns that seemed to layer atop one another. The palace was eternally washed in the golden flames of the sun and it also seemed to be a sun on its own. This sunlight that should have made this place look more majestic actually seemed to be the reason of the apocalyptic sight around the palace.
The palace seemed to be an untouched holy land that noone dared to enter. Deep within the palace in a small room a man that was handsome beyond what a mortal can imagine laid still in a golden pool. If one looked closely you could feel like he was actually the pool itself because motes of golden sparkles floated in and out of his body and merged with him into a single entity.
His refined jawlines seemed to look more sulken than normal, like he had lost tons of blood. His eyes were closed tight and he was so stiff that one might think he was dead but the irony of it all was his skin wasn't pale even as he looked to be half dead, he looked more golden.
A veiled lady stood beside the pool in silence, just watching over the firgure of the man laying in the pool, she would look up from time to time as though she was lost in thoughts, but she never moved from her position till she finally heard someone enter into the small room.
"How did it go??" She asked with out looking back, but no reply came. The silence stood still in the room till she finally scoffed .
"Trash" she said and stretched her hand towards the body lying in the pool , she released a stream of golden spiritual energy that looked both domineering and docile at the same time, it flowed into his body for some minutes then she pulled back.
" Find her, if she escapes back to the nether realm then go with her."
The figure behind her nodded and walked out quietly. She returned to the silent thoughts she had left behind.
Back in the capital city.
Ryu checked into an inn but now was faces with another problem. Maia needed some cloth change. He had wanted to buy some for her but he couldn't go out now that she was asleep for two major reasons.
They were being stalked, if he walks out alone and someone comes to provoke this little succubus then he would be in big trouble.
Second problem is also part of the first, he had managed to convince her to hide her wings and tail before approaching the city gates, but if she gets provoked he was 100 percent sure that she might expose their identity and he wasn't ready to run yet, atleast not now that he hadn't reached his goal.
He wanted to wait it out till she was awake but she had actually incinerated the old clothes before laying down butt naked to sleep and he was sure some more audacious stalkers might likely barge into the room soon.
"Haah….how troublesome ".
He stood up and tucked Maia under the sheets properly before walking out.
Few minutes after he left a few figures barged into the room.
"Go get her.." A bulky man who seemed to be the leader ordered while licking his lips, he wasn't aware that she was naked under the sheets because if he was….
Two men went forward to pick Maia from the bed, one of them held the sheets to pull it off.
Shiiiinnng..
Thud!!
That was the sound that was heard before it the pain registered in the mind of the man, his hands were severed off cleanly from the elbow. He looked down and was about to scream when his arm that was on the floor was shoved into his throat making him choke on his scream.
"Please don't wake her up..". Ryu came out from the shadows. He had drifted in immediately this fellows barged into his room.
The men's faces were frozen with fright on it as they shivered, especially the leader, he had also killed people and seen different kind of gruesome sights but who cuts off someone's arm and shoves it down their throat?? His mouth quivered and he shouted..
"Kill himmm!!"
The men woke up from their stupor and charged. Meanwhile Ryu sighed, although he wanted to fight but this people were simply just lambs running to the slaughterhouse on their own accord.
" Are you sure you want this??" . The thug leader heard a voice sound beside his ears and when he turned back Ryu was there standing behind him right in the doorway , it seemed like he didn't want them to escape but didn't want to kill them.
"B..boss.. we're wrong…we're really wrong… we'll leave immediately" his legs went weak as he crawled and pleaded. Among the mortals in this capital who I'm his or her right mind will dare offend a cultivator? Even the weakest one could crush the normal mortals with a single hand. He had assumed Ryu and Maia were just normal poor kids who managed to gain some fortune and wanted to spend sometime enjoying themselves in the city due to their tattered clothes and rough looks.
"Just take this and get us some clothes"
Ryu threw a bag of coins to the thug leader as he made way for him to pass.
"Wait!!". He suddenly said and walked towards the already escaping leader who suddenly froze at his call. He placed an arm on the man's shoulder and the man felt a sudden jolt run through his body before Ryu took his arm off.
"You can go" he said cooly and turned away. The thug leader shivered, he had an idea of what Ryu just did and every single thought of escaping flew out the window immediately, he nodded frantically and throttled away.
"You can take your friend away and clean this mess please" Ryu said again and went to sit in the bed.
The thugs did all they were asked to do before also running out. Few minutes later the thug leader came running in with some clothes. Ryu took it and sent him away. Now his mind has gone back to the original issue he had. He didn't know where to find the techniques he was looking for.
Here in the capital city, there were 3 leading families and 1 leading sect making 4 major powers, although this was what was known to the public, there was actually one more clan that stood at the pinnacle that lorded over all this families, they were on par with the sect. So it could be said that there were 2 major powers and 3 minor powers .
But Ryu was unaware of all this, he just knew that wherever those techniques laid, he couldn't go there else he'll die without knowing how.
He was immersed in his thoughts for so long that he didn't know it had gotten dark .
Knock! Knock!!!
Ryu was drawn out of his thoughts but also frowned, he didn't know when someone had walked to his door and he didn't even feel their presence till they knocked on the door. At this time Maia also woke up and he gave her the clothes . She wore it before he turned his attention to the door again but this time his face changed, because he could feel the auras of the people out there and they were people he was very familiar with.
"Liv Necron and Master young"
Although he felt no animosity towards them , for them to appear here of all places he was ready to shred them to pieces. He doubted he could do so but with Maia added to the mix they were as good as dead.
Even Maia felt the change in the atmosphere and her aura exploded forth, she held back so she won't blow up the whole inn,but the little she realised made every single person in the inn feel as though a sword was placed at their throats.