Chapter 0060

Tempest cursed Aria Se Jivock a million times over. “That crazy nut knew there were thieves out to steal the Brilliant Yin Sect disciple token when she publicly gave me the token.”

Contrary to Tempest’s belief, Aria Se Jivock did not know about the group organized to steal the Brilliant Yin Sect Discipleship Token. Aria Se Jivock is a prodigy with karma lines.  She is very sensitive to the schemes of others and is quite good at guiding those schemes to her benefits. For the little customs and small fries, she doesn’t pay attention to it. It is this trait which cause Xing Zhi Hui so much trouble. She has to clean up the mess the ‘little customs and small fries’ make.

Suddenly, Tempest was surrounded by a group of thieves. Tempest successfully escaped the clutches of Aria Se Jivock but not the sharp eyed scouts surrounding the camp.

“Halt!”

Tempest ignored the order. Who actually stops when suspicious looking people tell them to stop? Ah, criminals on the wrong side of the guns do stop. She forgot all about the show Cops.

"Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha' gonna do when they come for you."

Ah the opening song. It still plays inside Tempest head until this day. 

Someone said it was the first reality television show put on air and Tempest agreed.

Though her situation is not the same. The person telling her to stop looks like a kidnapper. Or a scruffy suspicious looking guy. Kidnappers don’t stand out. They’ll get caught if they do.

Tempest used Flash Step to wind her way around the idiots before they can stop her.

A flabbergasted thief asked their boss, “What should we do?”

At the rate Tempest was moving, only the boss of the group can catch up to her. Without their numbers, they don’t have the confidence to take on the little girl. Even then, they might not be able to beat her and get killed instead.

“What are you waiting for? Chase after her.” The boss of the group knew it was dangerous to chase after a red mage when he or she wants to run, however, he knew his groups weren’t the only one after the little girl’s treasures. He wanted to take advantage of the situation to reap some benefits. If they can’t get the treasure from the little girl, they can loot the trail of dead bodies the girl will no doubt leave behind as she tries to escape.

Up ahead, Tempest was still cursing Aria Se Jivock.

Why don’t you kill them?

“Am I strong enough?” Tempest asked her spirits. Her greatest advantage in the new world is her spirits. Her greatest disadvantage is her lack of knowledge about the new world.

Tempest can’t tell if she is stronger than her opponents. The protagonists in the stories she read so far can sense the level of their opponent or they are confident to kill their opponents many levels higher than them.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Tempest has nothing. The group of bandits she bypasses earlier looks stronger than her. She didn’t want to be caught by them then sold into slavery. She’d make a horrible slave!

Yes. Ventus spoke with confidence.

“Too many people. Once I stop, they’ll converge on me.”

Do you lack the conviction to kill them?

“Why do you ask?”

You felt remorse for killing the betrayer before.

“The kill caught me off guard. I was in a vulnerable position, and it was my first kill.”

What about now?

“The first kill is the hardest. The subsequent kill should be easier.”

Don’t push yourself. If you feel you can’t kill them, then get rid of the token Aria Se Jivock gave you.

“I can’t.” Tempest said helplessly. If she could get rid of the hot potato, she would have done so a long time ago. In fact, she’d sell it to the highest bidder in the mercenary camp for travel money.

Why not?

“I have an indirect karma line with the token.”

What?

“When I received the token earlier, I touched both Aria Se Jivock and the token. It pried open my fondest memories and formed karma lines connecting the token with the souls of those in my memories. If I want to find them, I have to keep the token.” Tempest explained helplessly. If it wasn’t for the karma lines, Tempest would want nothing to do with the token and Aria Se Jivock.

Are you going to kill the people chasing you? You can outrun them now, but you can’t keep it up forever.

Tempest steeled her determination. “I’ll kill them if I have to.” The red mage didn’t want to kill unless it was absolutely necessary. She isn’t a homicidal maniac nor was she a person without a conscience, however she knew she had to adapt to the ‘might makes right’ mentality of the Cardinal Realm.

She could cling to the values she held back on Earth, but she realized she wasn’t a moral person back on Earth either. Nor was she sane. Torturing people becomes easier when she accepts she wasn’t normal.

Tempest came to a realization. Her morals back then didn’t fit the morals of the majority of the people on Earth and the morals of Earth didn’t fit her personality.

Athena suffered an injustice. Most people would let the police handle it. Athena hunted the bastards responsible and made them live a life worse than death.

This vigilantism part of her personality feels right at home in the Cardinal Realm.

The crazy side of her personality also feels right at home in the Cardinal Realm.

As for her rationale side, it can be bribed with food.  Good food is justice.  

You are surrounded. 200 cultivators in every direction.

“Damn. Any ideas?”

Combination attacks. The Vibrating Wind Blade modifies the wind element. The spell gets stronger as you modify it with different properties but there is a limit to how much you can modify a spell. Mages never want to limit themselves. They modify a spell here, tweak a spell there and get a stronger spell out of it. One of the methods is to combine the elements to create a stronger spell.

“How can I do it?” Tempest was pressed for time. She doesn’t care about the history of the spell right now. She can listen to the lecture when she has the time. Right now, Tempest wants a strong spell she can cast that can obliterate her enemies without taking a huge toll on her body.

Cast the core of the spell first, then use the same method as you would when you modify the spell, but instead of integrating the changes you want with the core spell, wrap the spell around the core spell.

“Use concrete examples please,” Tempest thought for a bit then added, “and a better analogy.”

The Wind Blade is the topic sentence of a paragraph. You modify the sentence by adding the word vibrating to it, which makes the spell Vibrating Wind Blade. Now add several more sentences such as Ice Bolt or Lightning Strike. Once you are done, instead of trying the cast the sentences one by one, try casting the whole paragraph.

“I think I got it.” Tempest did understand. When she was in the mercenary camps, the gossip mongers called her a red mage that can cast one circle spells. She asked what a one circle spell was and found out it was the type of spell she cast.

Since she didn’t want to go in circles trying to clarify the situation, when she was practising her illusionary magic to help Jean, she noticed the spells she cast formed a circle. Therefore, she concluded one circle spells are spells that form one circle when they are cast.

The Vibrating Wind Blade is a one circle spell.

From what she can deduce from Ventus’s explanation, two circle spells are spells of different elements combined together. More circle means more elements into the mix.

Tempest’s assumption isn’t wrong but it isn’t right either. Later her assumptions will be corrected, but for now, it works for her situation.

Combination spells will take a lot out of you. You can safely cast two spells at the current rate.

“I will be careful.”

Tempest turned around and began to attack her pursuers using her regular one circle spells. Previously, Tempest was trying to conserve her mana reserves by avoiding her pursuers instead of outright attacking them. She held a secret hope that she can bypass her pursuers without killing anyone. It was a naive assumption on her part.

First, she didn’t have an advantage over her pursuers. The spirits were a cheat like existence back on Earth. Here, they are an assistance rather than a golden thigh she can cling onto.

Second, the morals and values here differ greatly from Earth. Tempest had to drill the knowledge deeply into her brain. “The Cardinal Realm isn’t like Earth.”

Only the strong have the privilege of showing mercy. The weak are oppressed.

Xing Zhi Hui asked her if she wanted to be a herbivore or a carnivore and she said she wanted to be a carnivore. Well, a carnivore kills. Tempest will kill everyone who set out to harm her.