Jie frowned and cycled lightning step as the chamber didn't look organized the same way as many of the other rooms the arak had prepared. But perhaps it was just the feeling of terror seeping into her from the wards...
Many of the auras Jie sensed seemed to be from the spiritual medicine, or a variety of artifacts arranged neatly around the room. Whatever gave off the aura of a ninth star Adept was moving. Though she couldn't see it.
They entered the room and Jie made sure to have her qi armor activated and ready in case something struck out at them as she moved at Pan Tian's side.
A large creature with slick, wet skin, two powerful limbs ending in clawed, grasping hands and a snake-like body burst out of one of the broken pipes on the ceiling. It opened its misshapen jaws and screeched as its chest swelled and Jie felt its aura fluctuate as it readied some kind of attack. Its aura was of the ninth star Adept rank. The same one she'd sensed before, Jie was sure. Hardly a threat. Unless it was hiding its true strength...
Jie pointed two fingers at it as she cycled finger of light. She was just about to fire when a shadow flickered into the room.
Overwhelming killing intent washed over Jie like an avalanche as a deep, rasping voice cried out, "No!"
A wall of water appeared out of thin air and smashed Jie backward. It disrupted her attack and carried her and her friends back through the pipe they'd walked along before arcing upward and slamming them into the filthy ceiling and holding them there.
Jie struggled against it, but the water around her held impossibly firm. The water peeled back away from her face, allowing her to breathe as their attacker followed after them into the pipe. Jie poured qi into her qi armor and told it to react to the water around her. The water exploded, freeing her from its grasp. Jie fell and landed on her feet, but her friends remained pinned to the ceiling.
"I won't let you harm them!" Jie roared as she formed a dragonfist around each of her hands and stood in front of her friends in the pipe.
"Me? Harm them? Don't speak to me as though I'm the savage here!" roared the voice as a frog man appeared in front of her, moving so fast that she had trouble following his movements. She couldn't sense his aura in the slightest other than the intense killing intent washing over her and making it hard to breathe, but the way he'd used water told her he was beyond her. Easily at the Elementalist rank. Perhaps beyond.
Jie said nothing, studying her enemy as she cycled her skills and desperately tried to think of a way to get her friends to safety.
The frog man stood with his hands behind his back, his simple robe neat and somehow undisturbed by his movements. He had large, dark blue eyes with horizontally slitted pupils, bushy white eyebrows, webbed feet, and a thin, well-maintained mustache with a long goatee that came down to a point. He carried a satchel with a strap over one shoulder. Why he didn't just use storage rings, Jie wasn't sure and she immediately wondered if there might be more to it than a simple bag.
The frog man took in a deep breath and almost as suddenly as it had appeared, his killing intent receded. He stared flatly at her though his enormous mouth was twisted into a disgusted frown.
"Barbarians," spat the frog man, "how do you justify your vile behavior!?"
Jie blinked for a moment, stunned. "What?! You attacked us!" Jie yelled.
"Ha! I merely defended Alice from you! Savages! All of you! How far must I go to get away from people like you? Thugs! Barbaric primitives!" shouted the frog man.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
"I... what? Alice? You mean that monster?" Jie asked.
"Monster? You broke into our home and attacked her, and you call her the monster!?" roared the frog man, "unconscionable!"
"We meant no harm," Jie said, "we didn't know this was anyone's home."
"Don't take me for a fool, savage," said the frog man, "you forced your way through despite the wards! Who do you think laid them down? Did they feel inviting to you? Why is it that insects knew not to come here, but you who think yourselves greater did so? Hmm? Perhaps you'd like to come up with a better lie than that one!"
"It's not a lie," Jie said firmly, "we thought it was a chamber made by the arak. For the test. Though it was a little... weird. It's not like we had much time to figure out differently, and we've seen some strange stuff already."
"The test? Ah... yes... that backwoods academy. Hmph! Teaching children to butcher their way through places they don't understand. No wonder the world is such a horrid place. I suppose you would be the same ones that activated the Midostra, garnered the attention of a megathor, and destroyed half the city?" asked the frog man.
"If you mean we were chased by a huge undead monster while we ran for our lives, then yes," Jie said, almost growling the words.
"Humph. It wouldn't have happened if you'd simply thought through your actions. But instead, you blindly run into a land you know nothing about and bring nothing but chaos, destruction, and suffering," said the frog man, "do you have any idea how ancient this city is? The wealth of knowledge you ruin with your careless actions?"
"I won't apologize for trying not to die. We had no intention of drawing that thing's attention. Now let my friends go," Jie said.
The frog man snorted. "At least you have some measure of concern for others. Even if you lack manners and decency," he said. He waved his hand and the water pinning Jie's friends to the ceiling vanished. They dropped like rocks but landed on their feet.
"Get. Out," growled the frog man.
Jie allowed her dragonfist technique to dissipate and gave a small bow, keeping her eyes on the frog man the whole time. "Thank you. And, for what it's worth we're sorry for invading your home and threatening your... Alice," Jie said.
She backed away with her friends, keeping them behind her as they walked.
The frog man stared at her, unmoving. Then, turned his back on them.
Jie kept backing away but kept her eyes on him. She couldn't sense him properly with her spirit sense and he moved so fast that she needed all the warning she could get if he tried something.
"Wait," said the frog man.
Jie and her friends froze. Jie cycled her qi, readying for a fight. Though she didn't think she stood much of a chance against someone so far above her. Especially not with her friends in danger.
"If you re-emerge within the city, the megathor will surely find you. Then, you'll either die, or destroy the rest of the city by running. I'll guide you through these sewers to the end of your little test. But, while you're in my care you will harm no living things," said the frog man.
"Thank you for your offer, but we can find our own way, esteemed master," Pan Tian said politely.
"Humph," said the frog man, "you're a fool to so easily discard another's help. Besides, I'm not giving you a choice. You'll come with me, or I'll carry you there."
"In that case... we would be delighted to join you," Pan Tian said with an elegant bow, "thank you for taking us into your care."
"Honeyed words from venomous mouths," said the frog man, "come. Try not to break anything."
He strode into the room he'd swept them out of, and they followed after him. Alice focused her eye stalks on them and growled softly.
"It's alright, Alice," said the frog man, "I won't let them hurt you."
Alice still watched them carefully but seemed to settle back a bit.
"I'll have my tea and then we'll go," said the frog man as he stepped into a side room before re-emerging with a tray full of simple cups and a weathered teapot, "what are your names, savages?"
Jie and the others introduced themselves honestly.
The frog man nodded. "You may call me Sorek," he said, "would you like some tea?"
"No, thank you," Jie said.
The others shook their heads too.
Sorek chuckled, a deep rumbling sound. "Perhaps it is indeed wise not to take what is offered from a stranger. But we're no longer strangers and this is the best tea on the island," he said.
"Thank you for the offer, but my answer remains unchanged," Jie said.
"Your words are stiff and stilted," he said, "how many years did you go without talking?"
Jie's electric blue eyes widened slightly, but she kept her face as neutral as she could.
Sorek's enormous mouth twisted into a smirk and he sipped his tea and sighed as though completely unconcerned with their impatient, vigilant eyes upon him.