Plants, vines, and leaves erupted out of the ground in droves and it was here that I got to witness what a trained cultivator with an awakened Spirit Root fights like- The Ninjas have all chosen to put Qi into their weapons, through the thick foliage covering everything, I saw bright golden glows that I instinctively knew is them pushing out everything they have.

Me and the girl stood at the epicenter of everything and even when she isn't as powerful as me, she at least had finesse. The plants, no matter how small they are in number attacked the Ninjas with efficiency, they would strike in one spot, distract a Ninja, only for another vine to whip a spot that the guy wasn't protecting. Scenes like that kept going as the plants came to life and continued their onslaught.

But the Ninjas, even when cornered, are starting to get nearer each other. "Hey," I called out to the disciple, "you need to separate them!" I stood up and grabbed her arm and she got a fine to wrap around my limb and squeeze in response. She glared at me, I glared back, "Can't you see it?!" I gestured at the scene in front of us, "They're starting to help each other!"

And that was true because even with the distance they have from each other, I can tell that the Ninjas are starting to help each other in every way they could; they positioned themselves in a way that they can cut the body of any vines that try to give out a surprise attack to their distracted teammates. And that's me not even counting the one that's throwing knives around and supporting a major part of his team.

The disciple turned her head away from me and scoffed, "I've fought like this for 70 years, I know what I'm doing." was all she said before she focused on attacking the Ninjas with even more ferocity.

Like a wild animal. I thought with a grimace. Because hey! If cultivators are gonna fight then it should be and only be based on violence and how much damage the other side can dish out right? Not battles of attrition, clever tactics, or dirty plays and anything that's more than just Hit-Hit-Hit!

I swear these people are fucking stupid. I thought before giving up on warning her. Instead of waiting for the inevitable end, I sat down and started meditating so that I can recover. Now that the cold around my arms started to die down I'm getting an aching feeling all over them and I don't plan on letting that ache to get so bad that I can't move my arms so cultivation it is.

Once is already bad enough. I thought before taking in all the Qi that I humanely could and pushing it to heal me. While I cultivated, I didn't let the trance take over and I sat awake instead. I didn't to get killed while cultivating after all.

And it is only then that I realized on just how slow and arduous cultivation actually is because holy fuck- who would've thought that sitting there doing nothing but breathing and collecting magical energy would be boring? Not me, that's for sure.

Also, even with the cold getting supplied by my own Qi, the process of healing my hand feels like shit and I had to sit there in agony, watching as the disciple stupidly let the Ninjas get together and started defending one another. Now that they had proper formation, she could no longer catch the Ninjas off guard and now, the black clad pieces of shit are making their way toward us.

Now that their group is in one place, the disciple only needed to focus on where they are so the plants are very thick around them so they're pretty slow. But doesn't mean that they're not getting here.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Impatient started to constrict my chest but I held on and patiently let myself recover. I wanted to move out and help the girl so badly but then what? I'd join the fray and enter a green hell made of plants to fight highly trained Ninjas that know how to defend themselves against attacks that catch them off guard while I couldn't? I'd die in a matter of seconds from friendly fire damnit!

Convinced that I'm gonna be useless inside the plant circle anyways, I just sat there and healed, waiting for the time when I'm finally needed.

At the thought of her and her friends not helping me back when I released that blizzard, I held back a snicker. Serves you right.

Speaking of her friends though, where are they? The only other people that I see except her and me are the Ninjas. I remembered that back when I went all out, the three bandits had a hard time defending themselves and the only thing that I saw intact after everything calmed down is a ball of plants, which I assumed the girl made so that she can protect herself. Did I accidentally kill her friends?

If so, then why help me? I listened to the girl intently, she was breathing hard and her heart is racing but it's not in a way that gave me the impression that she hates me. Weird. I thought before focusing back into healing myself.

I only became needed and "woke up" from my cultivation when the four Ninjas only had 20 more feet away from us. While I was observing them, I saw that they were getting faster over time and because of that, I just know that the 20 feet of distance we have from each other isn't that far.

I stood up and started rolling my shoulders, my arms didn't feel like shit and I really wished I thought of healing myself with Qi back in the laboratory. My chest started to feel a lot less painful now too, the ice is still there yes, but the ache that I've been ignoring all this time had lessened.

"Where are your friends by the way?" I asked the disciple. It's better to get the band aid off now, healthy communications and all that.

She tilted her head, "Why?" she asked calmly. Way too calmly, "Do you want something from them?"

I shook my head, "No?" what the hell am I gonna want with people like them? I have my club and sword and I can cultivate by killing people. If I needed items, then I can just focus on finishing my quests. "What would I want from you people?" I asked with a bit of a frown, "It's not like you have anything of value." I said, mimicking the natural arrogance that cultivators seem to have whenever they speak.

She scoffed and looked not at all offended by my tone, "I assure you that we do." a plant grew out of the ground and then into her palms, it coalesced, coiled around itself and then bundled. In the end, it turned into a 5 foot long sword, "now, are you recovered?" her eyes gleamed dangerously, "because I'm starting to get spiritually drained and I can't hold onto my plants any longer."

"So what? We're just gonna fight?" I asked while staring at the four Ninjas wearily. I killed one of them, yes, and if she's been looking then I can see why she isn't scared of fighting four dangerous Ninjas that I knew she's weary of if I were to go by the way she and her friends looked at me warily when the first time I came to their rescue.

It's good that she trusts me, the only real problem that I have with it is that she clearly misunderstood how and why I managed to kill one of the Ninjas- I did it through hit and runs and surprise attacks, not because of confrontations.

Then there's also the problem of them being scared of me creating that blizzard again. I know that the Ninjas are wary of pushing me to the brink, that's why they did their best to kill me as fast as possible and not prolong our fights.

Overall, with the disciple in front of me thinking that I can somehow fight the Ninjas directly alongside her, I don't like the chances of us surviving all this. Unless I run of course.

But am I really such a piece of shit that I'm just going to do that? No, of course not. I walked right next to the girl and stared ahead, the Ninjas were now getting closer now that she didn't create as much plants to attack them, "This isn't really guaranteed but, sure, let's do it."