Chapter 145
Tossing Disciples Around, Great Fun
Leo yawned and lazily stretched as he slid out of the room and onto the terrace, the early call of the morning beckoning. Alas, it was beginning to be rather difficult to enjoy them, however; the sky canopy of ashen gray and the tumultuous clouds made it so that every day appeared depressingly overcast. It reminded him of a few days he spent in Bergen back in his early teenagehood; his parents became somewhat obsessed with showing as much of the world as possible to Sarah, and he was forced to become a tagalong.
They went from skiing in the Alps to thrashing around in Bali's shallows to taking pictures of the Great Wall and visiting countless temples in Kyoto, all within the span of just a few months. It was truly a miracle year, as it were, though he seldom had good memories of it; he was in that awkward age where he wasn't young enough anymore to be wholly distracted by the marvels of travel to care for much else and nowhere near old enough to make the most of the traveling or even grasp why it was so monumental.
It was a between-age for him, the years in which he only wanted to go back home to his friends, to find a girlfriend, and to never travel with his parents again. He was miserable the entire way through—and often let it be known—though, in hindsight, if he could do it all over again... he would cherish every second of it. After all, how many people, not just modern but throughout history, had the opportunity to experience so many different things in such a luxurious manner? Not that many, he garnered.
That was why he had a similar dream of this world--to take upon that road and see all this place had to offer. Now wasn't the time, however, and time likely wouldn't be for a long while, if ever.
He sat down and wondered whether the world had coffee; it had tea, that much he confirmed, but he wondered whether it had any manner of coffee. Naturally, as with most other things, he didn't need it--he didn't need most things, which was... oddly humbling, at least to him.
If he wanted to wake up quickly in the morning, rather than drinking a cup of coffee, all he had to do was jostle his system with a bit of Qi; if he was feeling a bit hazy and buzzed from alcohol, it was, again, just a matter of using Qi to disperse it. That one thing was like a magic wand that he could wave at anything remotely inopportune and just fix it. It was rather scary how liberating yet enchaining the sensation was; he never got sick, he was never tired, he never had to be hungry or thirsty, and he never had to use the bathroom anymore (though he didn't mind that one too much)... all the base functions that used to be part of his daily life were gone, in their stead a level of stability fantasized only through the stories of future technomancy.
Thus, there was a sense of dullness and boredom sprawling, which was unbecoming; after all, there were things to do, especially now. In fact, he'd only been sleeping for about two hours a night for the past three days. He had to get up very early to start making food, as the numbers went from a few to about a hundred.
Naturally, however, he didn't make it the same way for everyone; for the newcomers, he mostly stuck to the common, 'non-Divine' herbs and ordinary meat. He still used some of the 'spices', which did add a punch; according to Lu Yang, the amount of work they'd managed to do day-on-day tripled over time as they'd gotten stronger.
He hadn't gone back over since his speech, though he was planning on going today. The ground suddenly shook--but distantly so, prompting him to frown before relaxing; he vaulted over the railing and landed skillfully on the ground before bolting eastward. About two miles later, he came upon a rather brilliant sight: Yue shuffled sideways and swept out with her blade, leaving behind a blazing trail of colors, while Liang skillfully navigated the strike, ducking and weaving through it, striking with his elbow.
Yue executed the simple art, edging backward and dodging while striking back at the same time. Another flash of light erupted, shaking the ground below as the two collided and both bounced back, retreating. They suddenly stopped, turning toward him and bowing.
"Greetings, Master!" They executed it in perfect concert, causing a small bit of worry to spring within Leo. Just how many times have they practiced it? Or, scarily, what if they hadn't... at all?
"You two are rather early," Leo descended to their level; they'd managed to find a nice, flat patch of land bereft of trees that acted as a decent natural arena... so long as they didn't go all out and level the surrounding trees to the ground. "I didn't hear you leave."
"..."
"Oh. You never returned," he frowned, glancing between the two of them; he noticed it, the strange, evocative obsession that had started festering within the two. It was likely due to their excursion to the Cradle, though the way it was gnawing at them was a recipe for disaster. "We will make a bet."
"M-Master...?"
"Both of you will come at me at the same time," Leo said. "If you can subdue me, you are free to do anything you want. If you can't, this needs to stop. Every morning, we'll get together for a nice cup of juice, and instead of talking with our fists, we'll talk with our lips. As it was intended."
He expected a bit of resistance, truth be told--but, there was none. The two immediately nodded and pooled together on the other end, opposite of him; he'd never sparred with either before, and they likely were extremely curious.
"Here we come, Master," Yue warned. "Please be careful."
Just as her words faded, she sprung forth, leading the charge with a direct stab; Leo spotted, from the corner of his eyes, Liang rounding to flank while Leo was busy deflecting Yue's attack. It was a perfect combo, executed to the point that Leo couldn't find any flaws. The only reason he could respond to it was that he had far more tools than the two of them.
Instead of taking out his sword, he dipped sideways and dodged the stab; there was an immediate follow-up, but he ducked even further behind, grasping Yue from her side and twisting her off the ground before tossing her directly toward the rushing Liang, who awkwardly had to stumble in place and catch her, putting her down on the ground and stabilizing her.
Just then, Leo appeared before the two like a ghost, striking out with his leg; wind whizzed up, sound tearing like a ripping scream.
Liang rushed out and put up a guard with both his arms, taking the hit directly. Qi between the two danced and twined like roaring bits of flames before being torn. The pushing force prevailed as Liang got shunted backward for nearly twenty yards in a beautiful arc. At the same time, Yue cloaked herself in his shadow and rounded Leo, attacking with her sword from the back.
Leo kicked off the ground, digging a small hole therein, as he vaulted backwards over her stabbing attack and her, landing directly behind and grasping her yet again, this time from the back, before tossing her at the rushing Liang yet again.
"MASTER!!!" she cried out helplessly as Leo held back a laugh.
Liang haplessly grabbed her and immediately positioned to receive Leo's attack, but the latter remained rooted, waiting.
It was unfair, Leo recognized. These two kids fought tooth and nail their entire lives, sacrificing everything else in the singular pursuit of strength. They likely couldn't stitch two days in a row where they were wholly divorced from the pursuit. It was all they ever worked for.
And then there was him. A stranger. An anomaly. Someone who'd been 'practicing' cultivation for a scant few months, overpowering them with relative ease. Though, to the kids, it likely wasn't all that strange; they viewed him as someone who, naturally, could defeat them in a breath's time. He was a Master, a secluded hermit of the ages who survived and 'conquered' the Nameless Forest, the most hallowed of forbidden grounds.
But it was all a mask, a facade.
He was a beginner, a child, really. And yet, he was overpowering them.
It was entirely unfair, just how much the system accelerated his growth. He could see their attacks clearly; he could react; he could withstand; and he garnered not even ten percent of it was due to his own efforts.
The two kids didn't think too much of it, immediately attacking; they were using this 'opportunity' to make of him a whetstone, and he complied.
Yue stabbed from the rear, executing Simple Steps Art beautifully to slither past his left side, while Liang charged straight ahead, a massive coalescence of Qi in his striking fist. Leo moved forward, taking the fist on directly and dissipating the charged Qi through emulating Simple Slash Art with his forearm. At the same time, he clasped and locked Liang's wrist, using the latter's momentum to swing him forward and throw him at Yue. Even at such speeds, he saw the girl roll her eyes aggressively as she dodged sideways.
Unlike her Junior Brother, her body wasn't exactly primed for handling an effective cannonball. Unfortunately, this meant that Liang found himself about six or seven yards deep inside the crater he formed, kicking up dirt and rocks and dead roots.
"--Is it really that fun? To throw us around?" Yue quizzed.
"Honestly? Kind of, yeah," Leo grinned, prompting her to smile, too. "I was worried your desires would overcome you and that you'd try going all out."
"You underestimate us, Master," Liang said as he joined them. "Ultimately, this place is our home, too, now."
"I was just afraid of cutting off your limbs," Yue said.
"And I appreciate that consideration, little Yue," Leo said. "In light of your rather spectacular defeat, it's been decided."
"We haven't surrendered yet!"
"You've already been tossed around to the audience of a few; can your pride really afford to be seen by even more?"
"Eh?" the two kids finally looked away and up, noticing that they, indeed, had an audience—Hino and Shui'er were right there, Blackie and Milky in front of them (likely warding off the stray Qi), Hoot and Red perched on the nearby branches, with a few other Spirits scattered about. "Ah..."
"So, no more sneaking around at the dead of the night," Leo warned. "No more not coming back home, beating each other black and blue somewhere deep in the woods. As a recompense, I will spar with you twice a week from now on."
"Really?!!"
"Really," he nodded. "So long as you join me for a cup of juice every morning. Now, because you made me stray, you will help me make food. A lot of it."
"Master..."
"No whining. Even Hino and Shui'er will help, right?"
"We'll help!" Shui'er proclaimed.
"And it won't be like yesterday?" Leo eyed her. "Where Hino was the one helping while you were helping yourself to the food?"
"... uhm," her cheeks flushed red as she pouted, blew her lips at him, and spun around, running away. Hino smiled helplessly and bowed toward him before rushing off to calm her down, all while Leo, Yue, and Liang smiled.
"In my eyes," Leo said. "You two aren't much better than them."
"... oh, go frolic in the field of puss," Yue cursed, grabbing Liang's arm and dragging him away. "Next time, we will hurt you, Master! Be prepared!"
"I always am."