Seeing that one of the two had already fallen, the leader Theon gave a sinister laugh, “Haha, you see kid, your friend over there is already familiar with us Scorpion bandits. We have an incredibly ruthless reputation after all. Enough talk now, prepare to die.”
Just as he was about to move towards Sesha with his sword in his arm, another person from the bandits stepped front and spoke to him,
“Big brother, do you really need to kill them?”
“What are you talking about idiot! Of course I have to kill them. They disrespected me, your big brother.”
“But brother!! Today is Monday, do you really really need to kill them?”
The leader hesitated, but the ruthless expression didn’t fade from his face, “I would have spared them Tito, but don’t you see that this kid has a death wish! Joking with me, giving me wild roots when I asked for money, hmph, today is their final day on the face of the earth!”
“But brotherrr!! Don’t you remember? Today is Ma’s birthday!”
This was apparently a news to the leader as the killing intent around him sharply plummeted,
“Really? Today’s date is… oh fuck, it really is her birthday isn’t it! I haven’t even gotten her any gifts!”
“It’s easy brother,” Tito replied, “Do you remember what she’s always complaining about?”
“You mean her joint pain? The woman never shuts up about that.”
“Yes!”
“So?” Theon was perplexed.
His brother sighed, “What, as that idiot old man always says, is beneficial for joint pains?”
Theon scratched his head, “It’s.. whasitname, Yarsa’s roots?”
“YES!” Tito exclaimed.
“So!?” Theon asked.
Tito facepalmed, “What is that boy currently holding on his hands brother?”
Theon looked at Sesha who had the wild roots on his palms.
“You mean that?” Tito nodded. “Really? Isn’t is supposed to be rare?” He nodded again, enthusiastically.
“Alright!” Theon declared, “It seems that you get to live today after all brat. Despite of your rudeness, this magnanimous Theon will spare your life. Now give that root to me.”
Sesha was already amused by the back and forth banter between the two bandit brothers. He thought whether not handing the root would annoy them further but seeing as Surya had already fainted on him, he decided against making the situation more complicated and handed the roots to Theon with a smile.
“It turned out to be such an auspicious occassion today. Well then, won’t you let us go now?”
Sesha asked while motioning towards himself as well as Surya who was still unconscious on the ground (with the rabbit Linny perched upon him).
“Not so fast kid,” said Theon, “You giving me the Yarsa’s roots can only be considered as your payment for disrespecting me. We’ve yet to decide your fate for intruding in the Sparrow village.”
He then shouted to the bandit gang, “Everyone, lets bring these kids back to the village. Boss will decide what to do with them.”
Bandit leader Theon then abruptly turned and marched towards the village. One of the bandits came and urged Sesha to move with them while several others argued just who was to carry the fainted kid on the ground. In the end, all of them decided to draw straws.
Sesha became a little excited. None of the bandits present had the aura of a warrior around them so it was futile to clash with them. However, the bandit group itself seemed to be rather famous. Sesha reasoned that this must mean that the group’s boss was a super expert. He was looking forward to see just how much strong the boss really was.
* * *
Kartik was extremely agitated. Not only had his plan of pursuing the Demon Alchemist been ruined but he also had to go to the Uttara sect in the remote north for some vague purposes. Meanwhile, the stupid retainer at his side hadn’t stopped laughing ever since,
“Ha ha ha, this is too much your highness! First you rip her vest off during the match and then fondle her breasts and now you get to spend some time with her! Isn’t this amazing!”
“Amazing my foot!” Kartik said while stomping his foot on the ground, “I didn’t rip her vest and I certainly never fondled her breasts.”
“Figures,” Krishna commented, “If you had fondled some breasts, you wouldn’t be so stuck up all the time.”
Kartik directed an intense glare at him which instantly shut him up.
“Anyway, this is a problem. As the prince of the empire, I really have to honor this summon or there would be problems between the sect and the empire. The emperor would certainly have my head should that scenario ever arise.”
Kartiki paced some more as if thinking on what to do. Just then, an extremely cheery sound interrupted his thinking process,
“Brother~~~~”
Krishna immediately ceased whatever he was doing and hid under the bed.
“Here you are brother!” a girl said with a smile as she entered the room unceremoniously.
This girl who was still bouncing on her feet was essentially a child who had not yet entered pubescence. She could be said as an extremely cute child especially with the smile that she was wearing on her face.
“Karuna,” Kartik gave a curt nod.
The girl Karuna gave a cute pout.
“What’s this brother? You come back after a long time and then you give me such a cold greeting? I demand a hug from you!” the girl said while stomping her leg.
Kartik looked helpless in front of the girl. In the end, he relented by opening his arms awkwardly.
The girl instantly rejoiced and bounced up to him with a heartfelt “Yay!”
Kartik found himself smiling as the girl clinged on to him. It was really difficult not to smile while in her vicinity, her smile was that much of contagious.
“Brother, where is that monkey who is always by your side?” Karuna said while breaking out from the hug.
“Krishna? He is," Kartik looked around, "He must have gone… err… outside,” Kartik replied.
Karuna didn’t believe any of it for a second. She instantly ran up to the bed and looked beneath it to find a desperately hidden Krishna.
“Heh, you hide like a little kid,” she commented.
“Princess… I mean, your highness, I apologize, I was just looking for some… stufs that I dropped earlier. I certainly was not hiding from your highness,” Krishna said a little too enthusiastically.
Karuna motioned him to come out from his hiding place which he complied. Once outside, she observed him from head to toe as if pondering something.
The princess then did something unexpected, she slugged him on the stomach with an almighty force. Wind knocked out from his lungs as Krishna flew from the ground and crashed into the walls of the room.
“You idiot monkey! What have you been teaching my brother! He has already started lying to me!” the little sweet looking child screamed at him with an otherworldly voice.
“Y-Your highness,” Krishna said while recovering from the vicious attack, “I-I did not do anything of the sort!”
“Hmph! You think I don’t know? Eldest brother has already told me about how you go to those shady establishments for drinking and whoring! It’s a wonder that you have not corrupted my innocent brother already!”
Innocent? Krishna mouthed but promptly hid it due to the fear of getting another punch from the little princess.
It seemed as if Karuna was in the mood of handing out some more of her frustation to Krishna. Thus, Kartik promptly interrupted her.
“Karuna, don’t beat him up like that, I still have use of him. You can beat him up later if you like.”
Traitor! thought Krishna internally. He remained smiling on the outside though.
“Hmph! I will leave you this once because big brother wants me too,” she said.
She then moved towards Kartik and said in an incomparably cute voice, “Big brother, you know how much I love you right?”
Kartik sighed. He had already guessed how the flow of conversation was going to be with his little sister.
“What do you want?” Kartik said with a straight face.
“Hehe, big brother knows me too well. It was just… I was thinking that since you are going to Uttara Sect and I—”
“No,” said Kartik sharply.
“But brother! You didn’t even hear me at all!” Karuna whined.
“I am not taking you to that place with me!”
Karuna looked as if she were pondering whether or not to spill tears from her face. In the end, she decided against it.
“That’s how it is then big brother! Fine, I’ll do as you wish,” she said and walked out of the room.
Krishna made sure that she had gone for real before speaking up, “She is going to the first prince you know. He’ll make you take her along.”
Kartik took a huge breath, “That place is dangerous. The sect doesn’t look at us with favorable eyes. Even that big brother of mine won’t be so dumb to concede her request.”
Krishna nodded but didn’t look too optimistic.
“What’s with you and her though? She was way more violent than usual,” Kartik said with an inquiring look on his face.
Krishna fidgeted but caved before his prince’s gaze, “I might or might not have been caught with her handmaid in a misunderstood circumstance.”
Kartik facepalmed, “You were screwing her handmaid? Have you no shame at all!? No wonder she was furious. I shouldn’t have stopped her from hitting you some more, you horny monkey.”
“It wasn’t my fault!” Krishna cried out, “She came unto me!”
Kartik was exasperated, “Of course she’ll come unto you, you utter idiot! What do you think will happen if she gets pregnant with your child!?”
“Err… what?”
Veins of anger popped up in Kartik’s face. He practically screamed at Krishna’s face, “You’ll have to take her as a concubine!”
“Ehhhhh!” Krishna cried out, “But I don’t wanna take a concubine right now!”
“Then keep your thing inside your pants!!” Kartik snapped.
* * *
Within a dimly lit room was an old man meditating. The man was radiating a peaceful green aura that could be associated with the fourth realm, i.e. the Air realm. Another proof of the old man’s cultivation of the fourth realm was that he was actually floating in air. It was said that those of the Air realm could make their body as light as feather and move about in air with the manipulation of their prana. But below the fourth realm, this feat was simply impossible.
The door to the old man was heavily guarded outside by troops of elite soldiers. Outside the door was a young man seeking an audience.
“We cannot let you go inside, your highness, Elder has explicitly ordered us to not allow anyone to disturb him,” the guard at the gate said, denying entry to prince Kartik.
Kartik knew very well that for him to seek entrance was a foolish thing in the first place. He nodded curtly to the soldier and was about to turn back when a grave and powerful voice resounded from inside the gates,
“Come inside Kartik.”
The soldier who had been obstructing Kartik a second ago, immediately bowed to him and opened the door. Kartik thought nothing of it as he entered into the room. He went straight ahead in front of the still levitating man and bowed before him,
“Kartik greets you, master.”
“Bah! Call me Uncle kid!” the voice, which had the bearing of a tyrant suddenly turned all jovial after the gates to the room had been closed.
Kartik, though, didn’t budge, “You are my master so this disciple can only call you master.”
The old man sighed, “You truly are stubborn, Kartik.”
“Sorry, master,” Kartik said.
The old man performed a never-mind gesture through his hands.
“What brings you here? Usually, you never disturb me unless it is something dire.”
Kartik hesitated before speaking, “Thing is master…”
He then elaborated everything that he had encountered on his past journey. When he had reached to the point where the warrior Mrita had ignited his Fire Chakra’s essence to create a raging Inferno, his master shot up from his position and flew to him in an instant.
“Are you alright prince?” He asked with an extremely concerned voice which was contrary to his usually aloof persona.
“I am fine master. To be honest, this disciple had thought that he would surely perish in that battle.”
His master’s old eyes darkened considerably, “It is fortunate that you survived that encounter. For that measley warrior to get his hands on that terrible pill!”
“Master… this disciple was helped by an outsider,” Kartik confessed.
“Oh? Who is he? Tell me his name and I shall reward him. If he is a warrior than he shall be given the rank of a Royal Warrior.”
“I… I don’t know his name. He came like the wind, defeated the berserker without any effort and simply vanished without introducing himself. Master, there is a thing that stands out about him. He had burning red eyes.”
His master’s mood plummeted sharply after Kartik mentioned the red eyes.
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“Bloody red eyes that striked fear in you when you gazed at it?” said he gravely.
“Yes master,” Kartik said a little alarmed. Truth was, he had felt mortal peril when that warrior had gazed at him with those eyes. He had not even mentioned this fact to his confidant, Krishna. The fact that his master seemed to know this was bewildering to him.
“It was a girl?” his master asked.
“No, master, he was a boy,” having said that, Kartik added after a while, “However, he might also have been hiding his real identity under the scarf that he was wearing at that time.
His master considered Kartik’s words. Upon much reflection, he finally replied.
“Prince, have you mentioned this to your Royal father yet?”
“No,” said Kartik.
“Then I forbid you to speak of this matter. No one shall know about it except for you and me, especially your father. Do not, at any cost, let him know of the red eyed warrior! Trust me, it is for his own good,” he said.
To say Kartik was perplexed would have been an understatement. He was absolutely astonished. His master, who was also his Royal father’s own brother, was possibly the one who was most loyal towards the emperor and the empire. To Kartik’s knowledge, he would never hide even the tiniest bit of detail from the emperor. So when he made this request, Kartik was naturally bewildered. However, it was the defining trait of Kartik that he did not question his master why.
“Understood,” he replied.
His master was naturally impressed, “Someday, Kartik, when you are of suitable age, I will explain this to you but for now, just obey your master’s words for the empire and the emperor.”
Kartik nodded.
“Actually, master, there is also another issue that I wanted your advice on.”
“There is still more? No wonder you came to me while I was in my closed door cultivation,” he replied.
“The Uttara sect has issued summons for a prince of the royal family.”
“Oh? They once summoned the emperor and me too. What is it this time? Some more trade negotiations regarding the Divine Garden?” he mused.
“Indeed master, their official summons describes this exact thing.”
“However, you’re worried that the real reason behind it is something else entirely?”
“Yes,” Kartik confessed, “There was an incident that happened after I left the tournament. Someone badly defeated a Uttara sect disciple.”
“Oh?” the old man arched his eyebrows, “That is certainly a rare incident, the mighty Uttara sect getting thrashed in a city tournament. But how would that be related to your summons?”
“They think that it was me,” Kartik answered.
“Well, was it you?”
“No master!” Kartik denied vehemently which surprised his master. “I mean, it was not me, absolutely not! But the one who did so did in the disguise which I used to participate in the same tournament.”
“And now they blame you? That is most unusual. Even if you had indeed defeated their sect disciple, it is hardly a reason to issue a Royal summons. It seems that the sect is getting too big in their head recently. I wonder if it is the time to curb them,” his master wondered.
Kartik didn’t reply. His master noticed this and immediately understood,
“It wasn’t just any sect disciple was it?”
“Yes master,” said Kartik, “It was… she is the sect’s First Elder’s only daughter”
Comprehension flashed on the old man's face.
“That brat Vishakha? No wonder… no wonder that old fool was so reckless! But you don’t have any need to worry, he might be a bit sensitive when it comes to his daughter, but he is not an idiot. The most he would do to you is to give you a hard time. He will not dare damage you beyond repair.”
“That doesn’t assure me master,” Kartik replied uncertainly.
“Ah, don’t fret. Just take it as a vacation, or in your case, a training vacation. A visit to the sect might just be good for you.”
Kartik still seemed unconvinced but he didn’t argue.
“Now, what is the other reason that you came here for?”
“I just wanted to ask for your guidance about this matter master, I do not have any other reason,” said Kartik a little too enthusiastically.
His master looked at Kartik as if to say, “really?”
After a long hard staring competition, Kartik relented with a sigh. He took out a worn out spherical amulet that he had been wearing and quietly handed out to his master.
The old man took a hard look at the amulet and unexpectedly burst out laughing,
“This was the thing that you were worried about? Why it’s just an old yantra!”
“I apologize master, I had to use it!”
“Because your life was in danger — the reason I gave you this trinket in the first place. I have faith that you used it wisely.”
He then clutched the yantra on his palms. A green light surged forth from his hands and bathed it in the aura of the same color. The whole room lit up with green colors in this process. After a little while, the process was done. The old man appeared a bit pale and was visibly panting.
“Here, I have reapplied the art of Windstep into this amulet. Take it and use it and next time, do not hesitate to ask me. My year worth of cultivation does not compare to your life, Kartik.”
“You are one of the pillar of the empire master! How could an ill-fated one like me be worth—”
“No!” The old man said in an escalated voice, “How many times have I told you to not belittle yourself because of your affliction! Rest assured my disciple, for you, I will personally raid the Divine Garden if I have to. Now come on, don’t keep your master waiting. Take this yantra already.”
The old man said with incomparably warm gaze. Kartik was moved. At the end, he extended his hands and received the yantra.
“Thank you so much, ma… uncle Vishwa,” he replied.
Vishwa broke into a huge grin, “Go now Kartik and have no fear. The Uttara sect is nothing to be scared about. Respect the elders there but if they are too domineering, then you do not have to endure. Even if the patriarch of the sect is a Void (fifth) realm warrior, we of the Royal household do not yield. Once elder brother breaks into the Void Realm, ours strength won’t be incomparable to them.”
“Yes master, I understand,” Kartik bowed and with his master’s permission, walked out of the room.
After he had gone, Vishwa muttered to himself, “The red eyed warrior and Uttara sect’s summons at once? Sigh, for me to be in a self-imposed imprisonment at this time is truly unfortunate. In any case, it’s only two years now…”
* * *
The first thing that Sesha noted about the Sparrow village was that it was nothing like the Golden Bird city. Where the city was prosperous with food, clothes, horses and houses all around, the village had nothing of the sort. He could see thin and fragile looking children, looking at the marching party with eyes filled with expectations. There were no animals trudging around — horses or oxes or otherwise — and people seemed to move stuffs around on their own. Similarly, the houses in the village were nothing more than a hut and most of them were in dire need for repairs.
What surprised him most though was the noise. It seemed that all around the village, the villagers were busy in blacksmithing. He could hear the sound of the hammer hitting the anvil and the hot iron sizzling as it was immersed in water. In addition, people were moving about with at least one weapon on their body, mostly swords. Even the children had a small daggers hidden with them. To say that a stranger would mistake the village for a war-camp of sorts wouldn’t be that far-fetched.
“We are here,” Theon said as the party arrived in the middle of the village.
It was a field with a big tent in the middle. There were many other bandits around the tent who were eyeing Sesha and Surya (who was now awake) with suspicious eyes.
“Hey fatso, go and call the boss here! We have a situation at hand,” Tito said to a big bodied man passing by.
“Who did you call a fatso you motherfucker!” the man bellowed at him.
“He called you a fatso, fatso! Do you have a problem with my brother?” Theon interjected on Tito’s behalf.
The man “tched” at him and went straight to the tent.
“Heee.. You surely are something Mr. Theon,” Surya said, “That man was so big and yet he dared not defy you.”
Surya had warmed up a bit towards the bandits. The fact that they had not already killed him being the major factor. He also had formed a small friendship with Tito.
“Brother is the best archer in this camp! Even the boss respects his skills!” Tito replied excitedly.
“You guys… I just know a bit of archery that’s all. I mean, the boss did mention that I was the best archer around, but that was a one time thing really. You could say that I am a bit important around here and I have a little bit of extra arm strength, that’s all. My aim isn’t even that good. I once shot a bird from the distance of 500 meters… that’s all really. It isn’t even anything noteworthy,”
Or so Theon said. He seemed to be quite enjoying the one sided conversation.
“Haughty as ever I see,” a powerful voice interjected his monologue.
He paled slightly at the sight of the figure who was now standing in front of him. She was a very attractive girl. Dressed in warrior like attire with twin swords on her back, she carried herself with evident pride. She had cut her hair short, which, coupled with her lithe figure gave her a tomboyish look. She was smiling slightly at Theon but it wasn’t warm at all. Instead, it felt as if she was saying, “Time to knock you down a peg or two.”
“B-Boss, I was just, you know, I mean, I didn’t really…”
“Yea yea, cut the crap, tell me who are these two?” She said, slightly irritated.
“Reporting to boss! We found them lurking around the outskirts of the village. They claim that they had no knowledge of the Scorpian bandits occupying the village.”
“We have only established our gang recently so it’s natural that people do not have any idea about us, stupid! Why didn’t you just stripped them of everything and chased them away? Did you have to bring them here at our base? Do you want to die?” The boss said in a very agitated voice.
"Surya, you did hear of the Scorpian gang right?" Sesha whispered to him.
Surya moved his head sideways, "Nope, didn't hear anything of them at all !!"
"Oh, then why did you faint when that Theon mentioned Scorpion bandit?" Sesha asked, again in a hushed voice.
"That brother... fact is, I am afraid of Scorpions. Somehow, that made them seem too intimidating," Surya confessed.
Sesha took a huge sigh. There went his plans down the drain.
A bit ahead, the bandit boss and Theon were still arguing.
“Err… boss, they didn’t really have anything valuable,” Theon replied.
“Brother! Brother! You forgot about the roots!” Tito whispered urgently on his brother’s ears.
The boss arched her eyebrows at Theon.
“I mean… they did have this root. And you know how my mother’s joint pain is and how that old man is always rambling about Yarsa’s roots and joint pain… They didn’t have any money or food though.”
The boss facepalmed.
“Then take them away from the village and set them free,” she replied.
“But boss! They have already seen the base!” Theon said.
Veins popped on her forehead due to anger as she kicked Theon mightily, making him fly.
“Why did you bring them here on the first place then!” She thundered.
Theon landed flat on his back and began clutching his butt in pain. The bandits gathered around and spectating the scene giggled on his misery.
“Today is Monday, we do not kill on Mondays. Let them go. With the beasts around, they will die within a day or two,” she said, taking no heed of the fact that both Surya and Sesha were within the hearing range.
“Oh, and take that rabbit. I’ll have some rabbit soup today,” She ordered some men while gesturing to Linny the rabbit perched on Surya’s head.
Surya paled instantly and hid the rabbit in his bosom.
Two of the bandits moved towards him to take the rabbit.
Sesha moved in between the bandits and Surya.
“You know, we have been listening on and on to you all from quite some time. It’s kinda disrespecting that you decide everything on your own without taking heed of our presence.
“You want to eat rabbit soup? Fine with me. But as you can see, my friend here is quite attached to this rabbit. So won’t you go and find your own rabbit?”
The instant he had finished saying that, Sesha moved sideways and it was good that he did so. Because, not even a second after he had moved, the boss had kicked the ground so hard that a crater was formed on that place.
Third realm! Sesha observed.
“Oye oye,” said Sesha, “Didn’t you say that you don’t kill on Mondays?”
“That,” the boss said with an extremely sinister smile, “is just a guideline. Not a rule!”