Chapter 0018

Tempest’s perception of traveling in a mercenary group is colored by television, animes, mangas and whatever books the nurse brought with them on the particular day.

Mostly Tempest thought traveling will be by wagon or carriage until they get into the forest then the mercenaries will form a net to hunt down prey. What they did was a day of walking northeast through a forest filled with bugs that harass the travels, large tree roots they either have to climb over or under and foraging through bushes, thickets and brambles.

The image of the native cutting away the foliage to clear the way for the adventurer/employers, well, that happens back on Earth.

Adventurers in the Cardinal Realm do not cut a path into the forest. It’s a waste of time for the adventurers as well as a signal telling the magical beast in the forest here be prey, come and get it. The easier the path into any forest the worse it is for the cultivators. Magical beasts dominate their domain and rule it with an iron fist or die trying. It’s the rule of the jungle, the strong prey on the weak.

Rarely do high grade beasts allow easy access to their domain via road or mountain trail unless it was sure it can easily kill the intruder. Mercenaries learn the hard way these wild beasts have a semblance of intelligent and will stalk their prey from the safety of the jungle while they walk in the open path call trail.

Emery and the three black haired mercenaries are aware they are being stalked. Aria may look down on the mercenaries she and her partner gathered, but that is because their potential is greater than the mercenaries. It does not mean the mercenaries are useless.

The three black haired girls worked with other mercenaries groups before coming here to take the test to become a disciple of the Brilliant Yin Sect.

Emery traveled over ten thousand miles to participate the in the disciple selection. In order to travel the distance safely, she learned how to fight bandits, cultivators and other magical beast. Her senses were honed through three years of battle.

Needless to say, Tempest is aware of surrounding and its potential danger through her spirits. She lived and communicates with her spirit for over twenty years back on Earth. They warned her of danger with a touch of wind, a drop of water, a gentle current along the cable wires. There isn’t any cable wires to conduct electricity or rain for Astrapi and Mizu to warn her, but Ventus is everywhere. Few can escape the touch of the wind.

Back on Earth, Tempest hated her cheat ability. It made her different… insane. Schizophrenia they said, a serious mental illness that interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others. That is almost a direct quote. Tempest looked it up on the internet.

The ones unaware of their current predicament are the three flunkies as well as the servant like mercenaries Tempest previously saw running around the camp doing odd chores.

Jean looked dazed, as if she’d never been in a forest before and is frightened by the ambiance. Tempest knew better.

A princess, any princess, did not survive until adulthood unless they were excessively beautiful and knew how to use it, can read the mood and avoid disaster or had a powerful background to protect them. Oh and words. They have to have a gifted tongue use to eloquently twist the facts to their advantage and gossip like a pro. More than one person were destroyed by gossip.

The Charm Maker knew Jean fell into the second category. From Tempest’s point of view, Jean was pretty, but not supermodel beautiful, but an above average beauty found in most cities, pretty enough to be approachable but not enough to incite jealousy. If she had a powerful background or backer, then she wouldn’t need to join a mercenary group. So Tempest is left with the middle choice, an intelligent, scheming woman.

With the knowledge in mind, Tempest wondered about her plans. As in why didn’t she shut those cannon fodders up? Even without supernatural abilities, she can hear them complaining.

“Why can’t we take the main road?”

“Is the Sundered Lion really this way?”

“How do they expect us mortals to move as fast as they do?”

“Can we rest yet?”

The last sentence is from a blue hair cannon fodder first on Tempest’s list of the ones to die first.

“We’ve only traveled for four hours. It takes six days to reach the Sundered Lion’s domain and at least two days to track it. Buck up or head back.” The order came from Amber, the nominal leader of the group.

Before Tempest can join the protester, the stalker attacked Emery. The leather clad female parried the claws with her sword, showing the group her weapons were not decorations. She swung her sword with practiced ease, parring off the claws of the beast with skill while showcasing her strength.

Tempest was surprised. That damn Aria said Emery is a poser! How can she be fighting like a master ninja? She’s even better than Chow Yun something or other in Crouching Tigers, Hidden Dragons.

“That a second grade beast, the Silent Panther. It’s a predator specializing in ambushing it’s prey from the tree tops. The Silent Panther is low on the forest food chain. It will not attack unless it was sure of victory or of an easy kill.”

The Silent Panther is built for ambushes with a strong hind leg used for jumping, sleek black fur coat used to blend into the surrounding and dangerous paws used to silently traverse the forest.

Feral cat. This Silent Panther is more like a beaten up feral tom cat rather than the majestic beauty found in the zoo. Nothing like the black panther found the Yuban coffee commercials.

Tempest played dumb and asked the question the idiots were wondering about even though she knew the answer, “Why did it attack our group then?”

“The highest cultivator in our group is our princess at Body Tempering stage 7. No one here except Xing Zhi Hui and Aria Se Jivock displays an aura of a cultivator but they are so far ahead, so the panther thinks we’re easy prey.” One of Jean’s servant explained with a sneer while not forgetting to flatter Jean standing to the side.

The three black hair mercenaries threw disdainful glances towards the speaker, but they didn’t want to say anything. They continued watching the fight like a football expert analyzing the Super Bowl.

Tempest shook her head, feeling depressed. These cliches are self-serving, only helping their group members while trying to put down the others to raise their popularity. Don’t they realize they need to work together to kill the Sundered Lion. With the help of Aria and Xing Zhi Hui, they might have a chance, however given their behavior, they intend to lead the mercenary group to the Sundered Lion, but they will not help during the fight itself.

Tempest thought back to a story back on Earth about a guy being hazed or is being rushed during a fraternity recruitment week by being blindfolded and abandon in the middle of a forest. If he makes it back into town then he is a member of the fraternity, if he fails, then he fails. The guy died trying to make his way back.

This gathering seems more like a recruitment test rather than professional mercenaries gathered together to hunt down the Sundered Lion.

If it is a test then it is either for a mage guild or one of the sects in the Heavenly Mountains. The Ethereal Depths and the Mysterious Wasteland share a border with the Magus Alliances, so they do their recruitment there instead of the Central Domain while the sect from Heavenly Mountains recruits disciples from Central Domain.

The practice reflects the tension among the different domains. The Magus Alliance, the Ethereal Depths and the Mysterious Wasteland have an amicable relationship with each other, more like a partnership for mutual benefits rather than friends while they are hostile towards the Heavenly Mountains. Their partnership isn’t strong enough to join resources to openly fight with the Heavenly Mountains but channels are open for trade.

From what the stupid servant’s remark, this test is conducted by the sect from the Heavenly Mountains. The cultivating system of the Heavenly Mountains starts from Body Tempering, Qi Gathering all the way to Celestial.

Speaking of which, is that servant really stupid or is there a plot to do Jean in? She is knowledgeable about magical beasts, able to identify the Silent Panther with a quick look, yet she flaunts her master’s cultivation levels, as if daring the others to make a move, or rather alienating Jean from outside help.

The servants, intentionally or not, mislead the others in thinking it was their cultivation level that lead the panther to attack. It wasn’t. It was the incessant whining that gave the impression of easy prey to the Silent Panther. Powerful cultivators move silently and attack without warning, experience hunters know better than to make unnecessary noise in the forest where as bandits hide, ambush, the quick retreat to a secure area.

Tempest estimate the casualty rate of the venture to be at least 50%.

Hmmm…..

Tempest might have grown up in an asylum… ahem hospital, however, she likes to think she is a better person. The psychologist tried to drill that into everyone’s head. It kinda works with Tempest.

Since Tempest is in a new world, should she apply the ethics of Earth to Cardinal Realm or should she go with the flow to survive?

Tempest is a survivalist. She will do whatever it takes to survive. So the current dilemma Tempest is contemplating revolves around the cannon fodder, as in how do one go about looting the dead bodies of the cannon fodders who were once their companion?