Chapter 28: Coping

Two and a half days, from Sanctum Oasis in the Eastern Continent to Selivereb in the Western Continent, was the passage of time that took Zax to reach from one destination to the other.

If he was not in a hurry or preferred to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself, then there were additional matters he would have liked to handle, such as taking a detour to Monivore city and visiting its Mayor Deg and his Dewgong family or looking for Blessed Army’s posts to flatten.

‘Curators’. Zax noted the five. Four were in the vicinity of the passageway to New Earth. One was farther away, preoccupied in a battle against an adolescent Black Chrome Alligator, most likely to pass time.

They were Peak third level Core Master and Zax could not count on himself escaping at least one of them detection, even if all they could perceive was an inconspicuous ripple in the air.

He twirled his index finger, swirling Kinetic Force and compressing it to an orb. His palm shook a bit, the orb was unstable, but it was also his first experiment creating it as a new form of long distant attack he could maybe use as distraction against capable foes in the Elite Tryouts, a skill that will not require utilization of dark attribute.

He extended his five fingers and the fifteen centimeters in diameter orb shot like a living bullet, evading the Titan Kapok Trees vegetation to a distance of three hundred meters than hitting the ground and issuing a muffled boom.

‘Good’. Zax thought as the boom got the attention of the five and they rushed to investigate, but that was not the only reason for his satisfied look. ‘The kinetic energy was absorbed in the ground and dispersed without making much damage’. It meant to be a destructive attack, but in this instance he did not want to make a large commotion, so finding out that should he want he can manipulate in advance the resulting feedback of Kinetic Force upon impact was literally a resounding success.

He entered the passageway without any of the five Curators noticing, soon to be home.

...

Kingdom Earth, cave two, Eden Formation.

“Senior sister Anet, senior sister Anet, you’ve been secluded in the Soul Tempering Chamber for six days. All of us thought that you’re still in Valgarel, in the Savage Caves. You should’ve at least told Don Mor that you are back, you know that superintendent Ten won’t bother”.

A young girl with shoulder length hazel hair, hazel eyes and white skin, wearing white and golden uniform and a black ribbon on her left arm, reading: “Student Council Class”, greeted the refined looking woman, shorthaired blond woman, Anet.

Her school uniforms were worn and she did not look anymore like the friendly and gentle person she was when Zax departed. There was a vacant gloom in her blue eyes and a hint of ferociousness in the manner she carried herself.

The news came couple of months ago, or maybe it was a year, maybe a day ... time seemed vague when she had no days to count for his return.

“I was engrossed in cultivation, Nikita. I’m planning to reenter the Soul Tempering Chamber, please apologize for Don Mor in my name for nothing coming to see her”. Anet’s voiced wavered.

Since she was informed, after nights and days of bottomless sadness and a downpour of tears, she discovered an ounce of solace by sinking into unyielding, restless cultivation.

Nevertheless, with all her efforts, it was not an easy endeavor for her to cross the last threshold of the soul to the second, Core Master realm and she was struggling with it longer than the news came. So she turned to drastic measures, the Soul Tempering Chamber and the first Savage Cage.

Nikita pouted. She was nineteen years old and roughly the same height as Anet, but her face retained hints of her former childish features. “You promised that you’ll help me pick a soul technique in the Summit three week ago and still did not keep your word. Why do you have to be like that, you need to move on”. She forced her opinion.

Anet bit her lips, caging whatever she had to say. The first to thirtieth time she snapped at those who told her to forget him. Afterwards she stopped counting until she was tired from repeating the arguments and decided not to respond at all.

“You are so young and almost a Core Master! Who knows, maybe in forty, no, thirty you’ll actually breakthrough the final bottleneck! If I were you, yes I would’ve mourned, but in the end it was not even a long distant relationship”. Nikita continued as if it was a rehearsed conversation.

Anet silently pretended to listen, as she already knew Nikita’s real motive in coming to see her, and proceeded toward the new school’s building of the Soul Tempering Chamber.

“Tell Don Mor what I said, and tell Him to find someone else to court”. She quickened her pace, forcing Nikita to jog.

“Tsk! My cousin’s feelings are sincere. He is among the youngest graduate of Crescent Arms, not much older than you are. He is handsome, I’m not embarrassed to say, and his cultivation is nearly at the second Core Master level. Don’t even let me mention again his status and place in the family! Why won’t you give him a chance?”

“Because I don’t’ want and won’t want to. He can’t replace him”.

They reached the Soul Tempering Chamber. It was a squared building, four meters by four meters, situated right next to superintendent Ten’s old maintenance building, who was not present at the moment.

The light above the chamber’s steel door was green, indicating that it was empty, which was expected since due to the harsh conditions inside only Advanced grade students were allowed to use it, and in the hour and a half that passed since Anet was compelled to take a rest from her six days’ session no one had yet to notice that it was free for use.