novelraw Chapter 419 - 418 - Village of Darkness
Chapter 419 - 418 - Village of Darkness
Lind had to console Fey for a long while after they left East End. He had learned much and had a much better foundation for weaving than his stumbling around a decade ago. He had learned from a little over ⅔ of the village.
While it had been informative, he also was always looking at the further solidifying silvery ring in his Sky Core. His was much fainter than any of the teachers in the village but was similar to some World Realms that were nearly at grade 3 of weaving.
So Fey had not caused him much loss, but he was stunned to learn how serious heart demons were in higher cultivation realms. The loss of protection on the mind made perfect sense as the body was heavily ravaged as well as the dantian and meridians.
The mind would be just as damaged. Lind made a note to talk to Qing about it later. She might actually know all about it and Fey might need more help than Lind could give.
They did not retreat along their original path since the aether beast had warned them that agents of the Fiends could be on the hunt for them. Lind knew the lower world was heavily restrictive to Fiends for some reason but since Star Tiers could live in the Floating Isles, it meant Fiend's agents could reach there.
The mission Fey told him about was similar to what happened in Cimmeria but clearly worse as Lind suspected the guards in Cimmeria were used as fodder to create the sacrificial cages full of aether children.
Fey faced true agents running operations in the Floating Isles. It seemed her mind was weak enough they could see she was touched by Divine changes.
It was a lot to take in, but it gave him some ideas that Fey was immune to being consumed. There had to be a way to make such a thing into an artifact or something else aside from a dramatic breaching of the mortal realm.
A flash of his Soul Realm harmony transforming the anti-Qi back to normal Qi in the Ruin gave him some ideas but he needed things to experiment on. That would be very difficult as while Lind could produce anti-Qi, he could not actually use it.
Formations did not accept it nor any Forging attempts made anything useful. Elixirs needed something to extract aside from the Qi but Lind had never heard of such materials in any auction ever.
He pushed all of it to the back as there was nothing he could do on any front for the moment. They had to make their way back to the teleportation array. He also hoped the Tidao Syndicate would not get in his way.
Daphne had confirmed weavers were heavily restricted but only if they continued to practice their craft. While Lind had no intention of stopping, he had to first find a way to break through the limit.
He needed a safe place to do that as it was not like Forging or elixirs, but a true self introspection that would leave him vulnerable. There was no test for a weaver, they had to be caught in the act and would be deported to Yinande when found.
As they were stuck at tier 3 of the Sky Realm, there was little any of them could do.
The problems kept stacking but Lind did not give up. Battle was welcome and the rest was his forte, experimenting!
The 2 of them found another village but this one had a very firm if pathetic stone wall. It barely stood above 4 meters and no Sky Realm would find an impediment to enter or leave. Lind saw only grade 3 formations lit up on the wall, but the guards looked very young.
A remote village usually would not have young men in the Soul Realm as guards, certainly not the jumpy ones in front of them on arrival. Rather than assert their authority, they seemed like a loud noise would send them running.
"A-are you real?" A pale boy with a helmet too big for his head trembled as he asked by Fey could not even find it in her to be cold to them. The tension was all too evident; these young men were terrified.
"We are indeed real the last time I checked juniors. I am called Taren Cord and this is my little sister Teela." His old alias was known but highly unlikely to draw attention unless they were looking for him intensely.
Fey did not like her cover name but Lind assured her it was of a fierce woman that was equal to a legendary warrior. He neglected to mention it was a children's story to sell toys but she did not need to know that part!
"S-seniors! Welcome to our village!" The other young man seemed to shake his wood armor so much it would fall off him! Lind narrowed his eyes and used his nose to confirm what he could but the pheromone of fear was too strong.
Still, no blood reached him so what had these boys as guards and so scared?
"Thank you, we are looking for lodging after a long journey. Is there such a place here?" A village might just be a bunch of families living on the frontier but an inn or tavern could still exist.
"YES!" A voice squeaked out and made Lind realize one of the guards was a girl. Fey actually looked at them all with some pity but he then exerted his aura to the shock of all.
"What is wrong with this place? None of you are more than tier 3 of the Soul Realm and clearly wearing armor far too large and at mid grade 3. Explain, now." His tone brooked no argument but the guards practically collapsed under his pressure.
"Big Brother!" Fey looked angry at him but Lind slowly moved until he vanished to all eyes and snagged a person hiding in the shadow of the gate.
"Release me!" A much gruffer and oily voice appeared as Fey's eyes went cold. A man with shabby armor appeared and a graying stubble on him. His hair was short and dark but streaking with gray as well. He was only a Stone Tier but clearly used the children as shields!
"I believe I asked you a question." Lind's voice could freeze an ocean at that moment. Fey nodded and comforted the kids who were crying. A Soul Realm in the Floating Isles was relatively easy to achieve so it did not mean much unless a true technique was used to achieve it.
The kids clearly just got stronger from their life in the village by the feeling of their foundations.
"You have no right to bully me! I am just doing what I need to survive and the damn things don't want young'uns." The man reeked of alcohol but his terror was just as strong as the kids.
The words made both Fey and Lind focus.
"What things? Speak man!" The drunkard just hoarsely laughed in Lind's face.
"You think I am scared of your mighty Sky Realm? Nothing can scare me but them! We are nothing to them!" His eyes were going wild so Lind quickly knocked him unconscious with his aura.
"S-sir Sky Realm. The Leader can tell you." The girl had recovered first but was clearly still scared. Lind smiled warmly at her and patted her head.
"Brave heart, please take us to your leader." The girl actually calmed down while Fey rolled her eyes at him. Lind followed the girl towards the largest structure at the heart of the village.
There should have been some sounds of drinking, laughing, or at least complaining but there was a tense silence filling the place. Also, Lind's skin began to itch. He felt something off unlike anything he had ever felt before.
It was making him irritable but he focused as much as he could for clues. There were no signs of battle, no blood he could smell at all, and no sense of pills being used either. If enough healing pills were used, the Qi would reflect increased water and light in the air.
They finally came to a 3 story building that looked like a mix between a tavern and a home. There was clearly a bar on the bottom floor but the rooms above were neat and tidy. The windows were lit brightly but it only made the building stand out in the darkness of the village.
"Big Brother, I feel something familiar. I think I have faced it before." Lind nodded but held up his hand. He did not want his opinion colored in case it was something else. Fey nodded but kept her own head on a swivel.
"Leader! Sky Realms have come!" Of all the responses to that, he did not expect to hear the shattering of glass.
"DAMN IT TO–ah nevermind! Send them up already!" The voice was not very old to hear and its gender was impossible to determine. Lind opened the door after patting the girl on the head once more and Fey even smiled at her.
The girl seemed to puff up but his senses saw her shrink back within as she faced the walk back to the gate.
The interior was once a dining area but now had several draped mounds on tables. There were grim faced men and women as well with farming implements or scythes at hand. They were grade 2 artifacts at best and any grade 1 weapon would shatter them.
A slender person descended and had a bleeding hand with some glass in it. Lind sniffed the air and was confused at what he sensed. The being in front of him was not a human, but a beast!
Understanding flooded him and Lind made sure to keep his dragonsoul buried. He did not want to be discovered so soon after leaving East End.
"Welcome to our little corner of hell, humans. I am currently the leader of this merry band because the last one is no longer with us and I am trapped here." Fey stepped forward then and examined their host.
"A changeling. You gain full sentience by the World Realm. You are also not likely to be here on a whim. Who are you spying for?" Her authoritative voice only made the group grimace but their host smiled wide.
"It does not really matter as we have bigger problems and now so do you." The changeling pulled a cover off and Lind instantly felt his instincts flare in rage. A desiccated corpse was on the table but there was no blood.
If that were all, it would be horrible but at least understandable. Lind's Eyes and Touch confirmed there was not a shred of Qi or life in any piece of the corpse! Its soul had been consumed!
"In case you are wondering, this woman was a tier 5 Sky Realm slumming around. She was the strongest person when it all began and was the first to be found. So unless you are stronger than she was, we are all going to die." The changeling just smiled at them but Lind was fighting the desire to transform.
He had never felt such a strong impulse in a very long time. It was like his blood demanded he destroy what killed the woman.
"What killed her?" Fey was examining the corpse with some interest but she had never seen it before, yet at one point she froze as she summoned an artifact that glowed once exposed to the air. "Fiends."
That word actually made the blood drain from all the men and women in the tavern. The changeling finally lost its smile and looked solemn.
"Guess we are more screwed than I thought." Its words were not appreciated by anyone at that moment.