Snake 18, Year 8693 of the Grand Wulin Era, Hou Minzgzhou

As that moment shattered, and mana aurae flared, I looked at the people in front of us. There were about 5 people at the 4th layer of Mist Sea, probably the new recruits, around 14 people at 6th layer , 8 at the seventh, and I could feel about 0 8th layer and 6 9th layer aurae coming from other buildings in the barracks. Given that we'd captured a total of 29 bandits already, the numbers matched up pretty perfectly with the information we'd gotten from the night patrol. It was time to capture some more bandits, and I really hoped we didn't have to get lethal.

That thought was interrupted as about 14 bandits ran towards us, grabbing weapons as they went, in various states of wakefulness and clothedness. The 5 at 4th layer tried to pretend they didn't exist, I guess they figured that with three people at 9th layer Mist Sea and two who had yet to show off their power they wouldn't be able to do much. It was more likely they were just scared shitless. I understood, if I had to contend with someone as strong as Ted or Kellan at the time it wouldn't have ended well. Cowardice is pretty smart when you're hopelessly outmatched,and without the promise of backup and the fact that 3 of us 5 were kids, the bandits who were rushing at us would probably be running away or surrendering.

There wasn't much difference in aura between the three cultivation paths, but from the way the people charging at us were attacking, it looked like they were 2 Warmages, 4 Mages, and 8 Warriors. This was going to be a decent fight, and when the stronger guys showed up it'd be even better. After all,setting aside the gap in cultivation, the resources and training we had were definitely higher in quality and quantity than theirs, let alone that we had higher quality techniques and Cultivation Methods. You didn't really get good stuff as a bandit, and even if they were ex-military like I thought, soldiers had to work hard for resources and methods, and armies usually had much higher requirements and more restrictions for buying things like cultivation methods than a sect did for its own people.

"Hey,Mingzhou, let's try a Fastball Special!" Alex said, his spear in hand.

"You sure about that? Who do you want me to target?" I said, grinning as I imagined what was about to happen.

"Those two Warmages in the back. Quick, before they get too close." He replied, smirking.

In less than 3 seconds, I grabbed Alex by his feet, doubled my size, and swung him in a circle by his feet several times, fast enough that when I let him go and he flew through the air towards those Warmages, his figure seemed a bit blurred. Not waiting around to see what happened, I ran to join the fight myself, while Avarius started chanting and Ted and Kellan ran to block the other two entrances into this building.

As I swung my staff, which had grown when I had (thanks, Spirit Weapons, for doing things that would require a much higher tier of weapon otherwise), I sent three Warriors flying, and they knocked into the walls pretty hard, and did not move to get up. The others seemed a lot more on guard after they saw that, so it'd be much harder to do that again, and as I was sizing them up, and dodging an axe strike from an overzealous Warrior, I saw that Alex had already knocked one Warmage unconcious with the butt of his spear and was about to put another out of the fight with a little tornado that was moving fast enough to suck the air out of his lungs centered around him. The man fell to his knees, gasping and choking, and Alex dispelled the tornado while placing Prison Walnuts on the two Warmage's chests and letting them do what they did best, while turning towards those Mages who were behind the remaining Warriors.

As I moved to confront the remaining Warriors, shrinking back to my normal size so I wouldn't be an easy target, mana erupted from Avarius and a blast of cold air froze the 4 Mages. Looks like he was holding back too, otherwise that freezing wouldn't just be a thick shell of ice surrounding them and they'd be shattered pieces of icy flesh on the ground instead of flash-frozen in a way that would let someone with the strong vitality of a cultivator live. The remaining five Warriors were kinda screwed, and in the few seconds it took to realize this, I'd charged forward and knocked two unconscious with two quick strikes to the tops of their heads, dodging a hammer blow and a stab from a sword along the way. Alex encased the remaining three in thick, thorn covered vines he'd grown from the floor in that short time, covering everything but their heads. They kept their mouths shut and didn't even try to move, their widened eyes and pale skin showing an intense fear.

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It was about that time that the door Kellan was guarding burst apart and the 8 seventh layer cultivators tried to come in. Kellan grinned, wide and toothy like his true form's mouth, and seemed to disappear, moving so fast I couldn't even see what happened. Within a second, all 8 of those 7th layer cultivators were out cold, and one seemed to have a gator-tail shaped red mark that looked like it would turn into a bruise on his face. Kellan, looking satisfied, pulled some Prison Walnuts from his pockets and placed one on each bandit's chest. They quickly did their thing, and when the 10 8th stagers came running, they were met with the sight of hilariously oversized walnuts before recieving the same fate.

"Hey, when their lieutenants and that boss of theirs get here, can you two leave them to us unless it looks like they're about to win?" I asked.

Ted and Kellan nodded, and simultaneously said "No problem."

Pretty soon, the boss came through the door, flanked by his six lieutenants. Each had their own mana aura flared, and I could tell that they were all at the peak of Mist Sea, with the boss showing signs of being on the verge of breaking through to Mana Sea.They noticed all the Prison Walnuts, and the robes Alex, Avarius,and I wore, and pretty quickly figured out what we were here for and what sect we were from.

The boss was a tough looking man in the armor of the Sol Magna empire ,and was holding his helmet under his arm. He seemed to be in his late twenties, with short black hair, a mild tan that indicated his natural skin tone was probably pretty pale, and ice- blue eyes. He spoke, and his deep, booming voice seemed surprisingly calm .

" A young boy with red hair and olive skin, a young monkey girl with golden fur, so either half human or a Gemborn Ape , and a young Silver Dragon in his Beastman form, at the peak of Mist Sea? Two men who I can feel are at Mana Sea, but have never heard of before, especially with those appearances?" He paused, looking at us, seeming a little puzzled when he looked at Ted and Kellan. l Well, given that you're wearing Myriad Existences Sect robes and you're this powerful this young, you're Alexander Grandstar, Hou Mingzhou, and Avarius Goldscale, are you not? I have no idea who these two gentlemen escorting you are, unfortunately."

"Yeah, and you're "Black Iron Fist" Regulus Septimus, founder and Captain of the Black Iron Gang. These two are Ted -"I said, pointing at each as I introduced them "-and Kellan, they joined us in the forest on the way here. We gonna fight, or we gonna talk?"

"I assume from their strength and the fact that they lived in that forest, that they're Magic Beasts? As far as I know, none of the human hermits living there are at Mana Sea. But,yes, miss Hou, I would rather talk for the moment. How that talk goes will decide if there is a need to fight."

"Sir, are you serious? Why don't we just fight and die with some dignity, like the soldiers we are? It's dishonorable to surrender to a bunch of kids, even if they have some tough guys with them!" A large woman in red robes, carrying a staff with a crystal on the end, spoke up angrily.

"As you can see, Marcia, they're obviously here to capture us rather than kill, and even if they weren't, I would rather explain our situation than leave our blood on the hands of three godsdamned children. If you'd rather traumatize kids that be jailed, your honor is worth nothing." He replied, having gotten worked up as he spoke,the last word practically hissed from between his teeth.

The woman looked ashamed, and her face turned as red as her robes. "I-i-I I'm sorry sir, I didn't think of it that way."

"Yeah, yeah, it's cool that you're a decent guy who doesn't want to make us kill you and all, but you need to spill the beans. Tell us why you took over Falling Cheese Town, and why a bunch of bandits are wearing the symbols and gear of the Sol Magna Empire."

"It's going to be a long story, you may want to sit down." He said, pulling a table and enough chairs for everyone from a ring on his finger. Oh nice, a Spatial Ring! This guy used to be somebody, or had an important background, to have a Spatial Ring at only the Mist Sea. We all sat, including his lieutenants, and waited to hear his story.