Second chapter for the day. No bulk release. Just two. This one is a little shorter.
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"Can we trust them?" Garnet asked. She was suspicious that Akiza was so willing to grant outsiders the power of the Divine Phoenix.
"Well, we are doing them a favor by basically getting rid of their biggest rival," said Zedd. "We both have something to gain from this."
Three days passed since Akiza agreed to give them the power of the Divine Phoenix if they agreed to help free the Golden Dragon. It was under the control of someone within the Golden Dragon Clan. Right now, they were still trying to figure out who it might be. The likely candidate was one of the ten Master rank members of the Golden Dragon Clan, but it was still unsure which one had it. For now though, they were resting in a private room within the Divine Phoenix Clan that Holdin had brought them to.
"I think she can be trusted," said Xiaomei.
"Why do you think so?" Zedd asked.
"Akiza seems personally driven to free the Golden Dragon," said Xiaomei. "I've spoken to her a few times, but she seems really driven to kill the person responsible for imprisoning the Golden Dragon in addition to others who are trying to kill the spirits."
"So she's just using us to further her own goals?" said Zedd.
"Most likely," Xiaomei replied. "But she is willing to give us the power of the Divine Phoenix right."
"Doesn't it seem too generous though?" Garnet asked. "Isn't this a power that you want to keep for your own clan?"
"She also seemed too willing to help as well after just seeing us in a single fight," said Zedd. "I have my suspicions about her as well though, because she reminds me of someone."
"Of who?" Xiaomei asked.
"A long time ago, when I visited the Eastern Empire and demonstrated mana to the clans, I remember there was a young woman with red hair as well," said Zedd. "I am starting to wonder if that woman and Akiza are the same people."
"Can you not remember?" Garnet asked.
"I remember the major clan leaders," said Zedd. "The Black Dragon Clan, The Red Phoenix Clan, The White Rabbit Clan, and the Green Serpent Clan were the major clans present. There were a few smaller clans present, but I don't think that she was there."
"I think she was," said Garnet as she got close to Zedd. "During our fight, she used an Explosive Palm variation on me."
"Now that I think about it, she also knew how to counter Avalanche as well," Zedd added. "And what I thought was my own original technique was something that she used very well."
"You mean the Mana Armor combined with chi?" Garnet inquired.
"Yes," said Zedd. "She was far better and it and even allowed the Divine Phoenix to move independently of her main body. She fully trusted the Divine Phoenix to act independently."
"For now, we should trust her though," said Xiaomei. "If we can get the powers of the Divine Phoenix, awakening your chi will be much easier."
"What makes you say that?" Garnet asked. "Is there something special about it?"
"The Phoenix types are believed to be able to speed up regeneration and recovery," Xiaomei explained. "Not only would you be able to train longer, it might even bring out all the other energy sources within you."
"Then we have to succeed," said Zedd.
"I have a question though," said Garnet.
"What is it?" Zedd asked.
"If she is so great, why is it that the Divine Phoenix Clan is losing to the Golden Dragon Clan?" Garnet asked.
"The easier paths to power often comes at a price," said Zedd. "The Divine Phoenix Clan is unwilling to pay that price while the Golden Dragon Clan is willing to. It is likely that the Golden Dragon Clan will disappear in two or three generations if they fail to secure powerful spirits on a regular basis."
"The transplants," said Garnet as she realized what Zedd meant. If you had to take parts from the Spirit God and place them into the disciples, there was no way that there would ever be enough for everyone. At some point, you would run out and the clan would die. There is also no telling what will happen to the host with the transplant in the long run.
"Precisely," said Zedd. "If the transplant is truly from something dead, there would be necrosis that causes the host's body to decay. If there is not, then the forced submission would mean that as they get weaker, the host will slowly be destroyed by their own power. Either way, their clan will disappear unless it can keep absorbing in new members and new spirits to fuel their development."
"Where is Riley and Quinton by the way?" Xiaomei asked.
"They went walking around town since they wanted to see the place," Garnet replied.
"Like on a date?" Xiaomei asked.
"I doubt it," said Garnet. "But they said it was mainly for safety since if they get into trouble, Riley should be able to activate Teleportation as well."
"Let's go see as well," said Zedd. "Sitting in here all day training only makes you more frustrated."
The three of them headed out to look around Phoenix City. After all, it was a city that was supported by the Divine Phoenix Clan's economy. Everywhere they looked was the logo of the Divine Phoenix Clan. That single bird on a red and black seal as its primary colors appeared on everything. It was impractical to put gold on everything since there was better things it could be used for. A lot of the top tier weapons Garnet saw had also incorporated gold into them.
Barbecue made using numerous spices along with some type of pot where people simply boiled everything and then ate with a dark sauce seemed to be the most popular food items. The closer you were to the tower, the higher end and more expensive the items were. There were even some people selling something called elixirs. "What is that?" Quinton asked.
"There are two types of medicines that help people train more quickly," said Xiaomei. "The first is a supplement, it makes it easier to train by either restoring your strength or making it easier for you to become stronger. The second type is an elixir, which directly grants you a power increase. Xiaomei began to walk around the store and looked around on her own.
Garnet looked at the man who was carefully grinding down roots and putting them into some type of machine. The machine sorted out the materials and then recombined them. When the finished product came out, it was a single black pill. This process was done five times in a minute. The result was five identical pills.
Name: Supplement of Fortitude
Quality: High
Effects: HP+1000, Cures All Abnormalities, Chi+500, Mana+500, Earth Affinity+100, Forcibly activates Earth Chakra for 10 minutes
The pill restored four different resources. Garnet only had mana. But just seeing the medicine told Garnet that there were at least three other resources that could be used.
Inside the store was a small vial encased in glass and protected by numerous talismans and magic seals.
Name: Elixir of Life
Quality: Mythical
Effects: HP+100000, Experience+100000, Experience x2 for 120 min
The Elixir of Life literally granted someone a huge amount of experience, directly making them stronger. The price itself was over ten thousand gold coins. That was more than the amount of money Garnet ever saw Anna spend. "How can they keep something so valuable on display like that?" Garnet asked.
"Just look at how well protected it is," said Zedd. "The seal itself probably already makes it so that only the seal maker can break it. On top of that, there are guards."
Garnet looked around the store and saw two large men who were keeping an eye on them as they looked at the Elixir of Life. One had his hand on the sword that he kept strapped to his side. If any one of them made a suspicious move, the guards would act. Garnet stepped away from the glass container. "I never knew such a thing existed," she said.
Name: Nguyen
Level: 60
Class: Taoist Swordsman
Sub-Class: Pugilist
Stats: High Agility
Name: Ryu
Level: 52
Class: Slayer
Sub-Class: Martial Artist
"Very few people can make such a valuable item," said Zedd. "Even I don't have the skills to craft such an item."
"Then who can?" Garnet asked.
Anna was only capable of working with metals. Some mages could make decent elixirs. "You might in the future," said Zedd.
"Does that mean the maker of this was another Hero?" Garnet whispered to Zedd.
"It's possible," said Zedd.
Garnet looked at amazement that such a thing even existed. "I have to learn to make one of my own," she said.
Two more people entered the store and began to look around. That was when Garnet heard something. "Watch out!" shouted one of the guards as he drew his sword.
The other guard drew his sword in response. Garnet and Zedd both quickly turned around and saw that two men in full length cloaks had approached Xiaomei with concealed blades in their sleeves. "Lord Chancellor Murad sends his regards!" shouted the man as he thrusted his palm straight towards Xiaomei.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Desquamation!" Xiaomei quickly substituted herself with a stone copy of herself.
Name: Antonio
Level: 58
Class: Black Wizard
Sub-Class: Summoner
Stats: High Intelligence
Name: Humphrey
Level: 60
Class: Black Wizard
Sub-Class: Assassin
Stats: High Intelligence, High Agility
"They're most likely from the Dark Mage Guild!" said Garnet.
The two guards quickly rushed the two men who attacked Xiaomei. Ryu grabbed Humphrey by his cloak and pulled it in with his sword. "Substitution!"
The cloak remained in Ryu's hands, but Humphrey was already out of reach. "We failed," said Humphrey.
"Recall!" Antonio called two more men to his side. "We will leave peacefully once we take her head," said Antonio as he pointed towards Xiaomei.
"Vigilante justice is not accepted here!" said Nguyen.
One of the new men that appeared pulled out a book black book marked with VII on its spine.
Name: Omar
Level: 65
Class: Wind Mage
Sub-Class: Summoner
Stats: High Intelligence
Name: Book of Filth
Quality: Mythical
Effects: Summoned Undead HP+100%, All Summoned Undead Creatures Can Cause Poison and Infection
Note: Part of the Zombie Pandemic Set [7/12]
It was not part of the Necronomicon Set. It was part of another one. "Call: Ghoul General!"
As Omar called forth undead, Xiaomei was suddenly frightened. "Everyone back away from them!"
The Ghoul General began to run towards the nearest living thing, trying to claw at them and bite them. "Don't let it cut you otherwise you will be infected by it!" said Humphrey.
Ryu drew his sword. "Phoenix Claw!" Three vertical swings quickly cut down the Ghoul General and ignited its body, but more were coming.
The Ghoul General fell over as its body decomposed from the fire.
Garnet, Zedd, and Xiaomei all drew their weapons. They knew what happened. The Chasers had finally found Xiaomei and were now trying to kill her. "We have to hold out until the Divine Phoenix Clan arrives," said Nguyen.
"No, we'll fight this since I'm the one they're after," said Xiaomei. "Keep everyone else away."
"Alright," Ryu confirmed as he began to push people away from the street.
"Quickly, summon your own creatures to deal with theirs," said Zedd.
"Call: Cerberus!" Garnet summoned four of her own dogs to help prevent the spread of the ghouls. They would also make it difficult for the Dark Mages to escape.
"I'll be bait," said Xiaomei. "When they come for me, smash them into the ground."
"Okay," said Garnet as she began to take steps forward.
"Call: Zombie General!" An armored undead rose from the ground and began to rush towards Xiaomei. It was nowhere near strong enough to take either of them out.
Zedd used his sword and smashed the blunt side of it against the head of the zombie. The head of the Zombie General was knocked clean off as the whole thing disappeared. They were not using vessels this time. They were using just the normal summons.
The four men lined up in a straight row with Omar leading the way. "Burst Strike!"
FWOSH. The blast of wind collided with Zedd's sword. The powerful winds forced Zedd to just close his eyes partially. One of the mages took advantage of the blast of wind and used it to propel themselves forward and over Zedd.
"Air Bullet!" Garnet released her own burst of wind to push back.
"Recall!" The one who had leapt over Zedd was now sent flying back.
THUD. The man hit the ground hard. He slowly picked himself back up. The four men did not seem to have any special abilities, and that was what worried Garnet. There was always a chance that they were hiding some kind of technique, so she had to be careful. The Cerberus was at least able to keep their summons in check.
Another one jumped off of the man in the air, propelling himself over Garnet as well. "Venom Bolt!" Xiaomei threw a green bolt of poison at the man.
POOF. The green bolt shattered, releasing a cloud of green gas. THUD. The man fell to the ground unconscious.
The fourth man disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. "Keep your eyes open," said Zedd as he pinned Omar to the ground and stuck a piece of cloth into his mouth. "Lightning Pillar!"
BANG. A bolt of lightning struck Omar's torso, keeping him paralyzed and pinned to the ground. The other man was nowhere to be seen. "Where did the other one go?" Garnet asked.
A few of the Divine Phoenix Disciples began to gather around. "We'll take it from here," said the man who led them. He was wearing a white yet somewhat dirty muffler over his uniform.
They handed the men who had attacked Xiaomei over. "There's at least another one out there," said Zedd.
"They caught him over on the other side of the market," said the Divine Phoenix Disciple. "He was caught trying to attack another man wearing the same clothes as you."
The last man was probably aiming for Quinton, the other person who ran away from the Dark Mage Guide. "Alright," said Zedd.
"Shouldn't we question them?" Garnet asked.
"No," said Zedd. "This is the land of the Divine Phoenix Clan, let them take care of it."
The three of them headed back to their room. When they entered, Riley and Quinton were already there. "Are you two okay?' Garnet asked.
"Yeah," said Quinton. "The bat spirit within me could hear the attack before it actually happened, so we were able to avoid it."
"Those men were definitely part of the Chasers," said Xiaomei. "Once the Chancellor finds out they failed, they will definitely send more."
"Are they so willing to sacrifice many of their own to silence the two of you?" Garnet asked.
"The only reason they have survived this long is because they've been able to silence other mages," said Zedd. "If word got out of what they were doing, the Dark Mages would be hunted once more. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to destroy this whole city to hide their secret."
"Now that I think about it, isn't what the Golden Dragon Clan doing similar to what the Dark Mages have been doing?" Garnet asked.
"They are using artificial means to boost their power," said Xiaomei. "It is strange that someone has not come to pursue them yet."
"Do you think it's because there isn't someone strong enough in the Grey Ghosts to handle them?" Riley asked.
"No, I doubt that," said Xiaomei. "There are some very powerful individuals among the Grey Ghosts from what I've learned about them. There's Firefly in the western half of the continent. The eastern half of the continent is rumored to have a man known as the Beetle. The Southeastern Isles used to have a woman known as the Snow Leopard. There's definitely more of them out there that we don't know about as well. There is believed to be at least one agent in each region of the world that is assigned to deal with what they consider as extraordinary problems."
"How long do we have until the Annual Tournament?" Garnet asked.
"Months," said Zedd. "There's a little variation depending on the conditions within the Ancient Graveyard."
"I need to train," said Garnet. "I can't just be here trying to unlock my chi with no success."
"Have you asked for permission to use the Holy Ground yet?" Zedd asked.
"Oh yeah, we can use it starting tomorrow," said Xiaomei. "But I don't think we're going to be alone in there. I'm pretty sure Akiza is going to be there."
"Well as long as we can use it, it doesn't really matter," said Riley. "Just be glad she's willing to share it with us."
"Well, the Holy Ground that we get to use is the one that Akiza keeps the Divine Phoenix in," said Xiaomei. "It's where we met and fought her."
"Is that actually a Holy Ground?" Garnet asked.
"If the Divine Phoenix resided there for a long period of time, I am certain," said Xiaomei. "Its power would have leaked into the ground. In addition to it, there's also that strange pool of water."
"Do you know what that pool of water is though?' Quinton asked. "It's not normal."
"I could feel different types of power coming from it," said Zedd. "There was mana in there for sure, some hints of chi, and others that I could not identify."
"Why is it there though?" Riley asked. "It doesn't seem like it's something for the Divine Phoenix."
"We could always just ask her," said Garnet. "She seems like the type of person who would answer honestly."
"You are too trusting," said Xiaomei.
"Have you even tried?" said Garnet.
"…No," Xiaomei replied.
"Well, I'm going to ask her some questions while we're there tomorrow," said Garnet. "Since you're too afraid to ask, I will."
"You can't go around just asking people about their personal life," said Zedd. "It's not nice."
"If they don't want to talk about it, then they won't and I'll know why," said Garnet. "If she talks, then that's fine too. Either way, I will get answers to at least some of our questions."
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