"Another one." Mr. Black

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The three Froglings finally made it back to the secret entrance to the cave. It was hidden underneath a large rock that was nestled into the side of a hill. He Huan and He Ya worked with the stones, getting up to a point that would be beneficial to them.

He Zhi decided to enter a special room of his so he could concentrate on his cultivation. He tried manipulating the energy of the other elements, but it didn’t do well. He then tried performing the circulation with the threads and was surprised that his body felt stronger.

So he would have to get used to the energy before he could apply it.

Instead of doubling up like he did with the water, wind, and turquoise threads, He Zhi only focused on cycling the different energies through his body.

He would have spent another week by himself if it wasn’t for the promise to return to Kuroda.

This time, he went alone. The girls were busy practicing and training the kids. They would still need a while before they could become adults, but they were far stronger than their parents were at their age.

He Zhi had arrived at the swamp, but noticed a strange feeling, as if something was staring him down. Or someone.

Three human soldiers stepped into the swampy water and approached He Zhi with their weapons drawn. They weren’t even as strong as an Intermediate Mage, they were probably just Fifth Tier Warriors. There were ten Tiers to warriors, but even then, an Adept Mage could take on an army of high tier warriors.

Creating a curved sword, He Zhi attempted the Sinking Slash. The concept was to instill the fear of drowning into the enemy, but that required a specific Illusion Spell. Instead, he combined the water energy and used his personal experience to reciprocate the act of drowning onto these men.

They hadn’t voiced out friendly warnings, they just ran forward, their weapons drawn.

He Zhi didn’t need long, but there was still a slight delay in his usage of the skill. He would need to get used to using it if he wanted to quickly cast it. He swung his sword horizontally, sending a thread of water at the soldiers.

They stopped at first, wondering if the attack was going to fly out at them. It seemed that they couldn’t see the flow of Mana or energy. When they looked at themselves, they noticed that there wasn’t any damage. But then the soldiers coughed up liquid. Surprised, they didn’t know what was going on. Soon, more water was coming out of their mouth, as if they were projecting the contents of their recently eaten meal.

However, they couldn’t breathe. Every time they tried, their lungs were filled with water and they threw up more liquid. They tried everything they could, but it was no use. The only sounds were their heaving and the splashing.

If someone ranked this spell, it would be an Advanced Spell! This wasn’t an external attack, this directly affected the inside! Now, most people at the Intermediate or higher Stages would be able to manipulate the strand of Mana that had entered their system if it was normal.

Unfortunately, He Zhi had unknowingly added the extra emotion of death and despair into the threads of energy, forcing the target to be overwhelmed by feelings that weren’t their own. This would debilitate them long enough for the Spell to affect even Adept Mages!

Of course, an Adept Mage or higher would also be able to easily expel the illusion from their heart and mind, clearing their senses and allowing them to expel the Mana.

But these soldiers were nothing!

He Zhi searched their bodies, but there was no point. All they had on them were reminders of family and friends. He was upset at first but remembered they had wanted to kill him.

He looked around and noticed he was in the place where Kuroda had stopped chasing He Huan.

Even now, it seemed too perfect of a clearing. He Zhi dove into the water and swam to the center of the water. At the bottom of the massive puddle, a strange object was stuck in the ground. Using his drills, he was able to remove the mud from around it.

What he had found was a…

Rock.

A boring rock.

Well, it felt cool, but that was it. He pocketed it and kept going towards Kuroda’s house.

He was happy to see that Kuroda was up and ready to go. She even had clothes and a bag. She leaped over and tackled him, her tail swishing like a puppy’s.

“Buddy! You made it! Are we going on an adventure?!”

The elder had emptied the building of decorations and was tearing down different parts to keep.

“What did your mother tell you about this?”

“That she had to go somewhere and you were going to watch over me! Something about a babysitter? But I’m not a baby! And you can’t sit on me anymore!”

“Hehehe, then maybe you can sit on me.”

“You aren’t that much bigger than me!”

The size of the snake had made He Zhi think Kuroda was going to be an adult or something. But when she looked to be an elementary school level child, he was thrown for a loop.

The old lady finished and gave Kuroda a hug goodbye.

A real hug.

“Mmmm! I like this! It feels nicer to squeeze you like this!”

The lady said nothing, but it almost looked as if her eyes were getting moist. She nodded and started to walk off.

Not reading the mood, Kuroda jumped on He Zhi’s shoulders and pointed away.

“We’re off! Let’s go that way!”

“No, my home is this way. Since I’ve seen your home, we should go see mine. He Ya and He Huan are there, as well as other new friends.”

“New friends?! Yay~!”

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They had walked a ways when more men appeared.

“ZhiZhi! They look like taller, pinker, uglier, and harrier versions of you!”

“Uh…how are they ugly?”

The soldiers had stopped upon seeing the two beings talking to each other so nonchalantly and in a language they understood. Even weirder was why a pale cute little girl with black hair and something like black freckles on her face was calling them ugly compared to a frog. They had actually stopped approaching so they could hear the reason.

“Because their eyes are so close together!”

One guy almost fell over. Are you kidding me?! If our eyes were any wider, we would be monsters!

“Now Kuroda, you look a lot like them now. Your previously spread apart eyes are now closer together.”

She couldn’t see her reflection off of the dirty water, so He Zhi made a small clear bubble/shield thing that sort of reflected an image. The innovative creation gave him an idea for a new weapon, but Kuroda was too busy using it to look at herself.

“Ahh! I look almost like Momma! This is soooo cool!”

Seeing the little frog summon some water without using an incantation was a good indicator that the soldiers had found what they were after. They rushed forward, ready to apprehend the both of them.

However, Kuroda’s mood instantly shifted.

“You meanies! Leave us alone!”

All she did was swing her tail and little pebbles were sent flying towards the incoming soldiers. They didn’t have time to dodge because they didn’t even notice they were being attacked!

Kuroda had managed to easily understand that if she tried practicing like He Zhi taught her, she could get stronger. She used the earth threads she had from eating the Beasts in the swamp and could naturally send her power into the earth. As of now, she had several abilities to use.

This one was the Pebble Shot, a fast strike that sent little shards of earth at the enemy. To He Zhi, it was like watching a shotgun rip up a piece of paper. The left over soldiers looked on in horror at the sudden gore fest before them.

One soldier used a sword, but instead of charging at them, he merely threw it in an attempt to distract the two so he could run away. However, Kuroda Strengthened her tail and blocked the sword. It made a clanging sound, and there wasn’t even a scuff on her scales. So this was the power of earth!

After picking up the ruined weapons and armor, the two continued on their way.

They didn’t meet any other soldiers along the way, but they still kept an eye out. When they arrived, Kuroda went and hugged the girls before introducing herself to the herons. Somehow, the Elder was shocked and started worshipping her. She thought it was a game and began to think of herself as a queen.

She leaned back and laughed, her mouth wide open. She had small fangs, almost like some sort of vampire. Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to be biting her enemies. What weapon would she need? He Zhi wondered.

In fact, did everyone want weapons? Well, He Yi and He Ya both liked the spears, but He Yu and He Huan used their water energy. Kuroda was still having difficulty walking around, so no weapon for now, he thought.

But…speaking of weapons caused He Zhi to think of the Ice Saber. He couldn’t help but imagine what horrible ordeal his siblings were going through.

It would be a sight to see if he had found out here that they were living an easy life as people tried to imitate their cultivation. Unfortunately, the process wasn’t successful, so the three Sects had sent more people this time, but they were led by the same people as last time.

This time, they were sent on a trip to ‘learn’ from the Illusion Seeking Sect. While there, they would use the chance they got to search for the frog known as He Zhi!

The mountain shall be swarmed with tigers!