It is better to not provoke that which you do not understand.

~Syn, Goddess of Observance and Truth

Zoe snatched back her drawing that a boy at the table snagged from her. The table was much bigger than the one Crow used, so it was better for her to use when she wanted to draw. He never saw her sketches, but her coven sisters sometimes crowded around her. Based on their flushed faces, he imagined her images were probably provocative. He was sure it wasn’t his imagination when he saw the boy messing with her. Crow could have used Mana Sense or his vision abilities to see, but she made an effort to hide it from him, and he didn’t want to cross a line.

“What would you and your sisters know about this, Witch?” A boy growled, and a nasty scar on his cheek pulled his mouth into a permanent sneer.

“That’s right, I’m a Witch—that means I’m more in communion with the world than you. That’s the nature of who we are,” Zoe said coldly and glared around the table at the other boys that had joined them. “Which of you dares claim to have the currency to argue against me regarding spiritual communion?”

Silence met her question. Some of the little bastards turned away in embarrassment.

“You think I don’t have spiritual enlightenment?” the scarred boy laughed. “You think this is considered spiritual communion?”

“Let’s be clear, fucking and orgasming into animals is not spiritual enlightenment! Even your method of cultivation is at odds with the world. You steal vitality and karma, which means you will never gain spiritual communion. You are already at odds with it,” Zoe snorted, and this time, a few of the other boys chortled.

“I’ll bring you to heaven, bitch!” the boy charged, but suddenly Crow was in front of him. His appearance startled them because he wasn’t there a second ago.

“Fuck, Ghost Eaters are damned scary,” Zoe’s sister muttered. Most didn’t hear her, but Crow did and grinned.

“Step aside, Sione. You can’t protect her now.”

“I can. No one has my permission to touch her.”

Crow knew this boy was always looking for an excuse to steal Zoe’s vital yin. This scar-face became a dual cultivator because women wouldn’t give him the time of day. To make matters worse, the scar on his face wasn’t something that could be cured. Many healers and potions were needed to restore his flesh to its current state. It was like the healing magic felt that the scar was his original state. Because of this, he had a chip on his shoulder, and Crow could sense a lot of vital yin in him. Knowing the boy’s personality, he was sure the kid raped all of them. He wanted to end the fucker’s life but couldn’t afford to call attention to himself yet. Internally, he swore to kill this boy before he left.

“A pathetic virgin like you dare go against our Durex Branch?”

“Pfft,” Zoe laughed. “You call yourself a dual cultivator and can’t sense the vital yin of multiple women on him? The difference is those women gave it up to him willingly. It makes sense if you compare his face to yours.”

“Fuck you!” The enraged boy tried to charge forward, but Crow head butt him.

“I warned you. She’s mine. Go back to fucking those ugly slut disciples.”

“Hmph, are you sure you want to go against me?”

“Who are you? Never mind, even if you told me, I wouldn’t remember because you aren’t worthy of my attention. I don’t care who the fuck you are. All I know is she is off limits,” Crow said and pointed at Zoe. He glanced at her and couldn’t help but ask. “What is all this about?”

“Idiot claimed as long as he… did that with women, the gods would save him. He dedicated his exploits to some god of lust,” Zoe flushed while trying to secretly roll up her sketch, but it caused Crow to look down. She hid it fast, but not fast enough because of how powerful his memory was. In the drawing, Crow was tied naked to a pole with thirteen bare-breasted women surrounding him. What the fuck is that!?

Crow looked around the table at the other people, wondering why they were debating such a weird topic. He respected the gods belonging to Tuatha de Danann but long realized they weren’t omnipotent—at least not to the point of answering prayers. The omnipotent gods were the horrifying ones.

“What? You disagree?”

Crow rolled his eyes, wondering why this guy was trying to antagonize him. “I’ll entertain you for a moment, so listen carefully. There was an extremely devout man, one of those high priest types who believed what they did without question. Like you, convinced that the gods would help him if in need and believing the gods had a purpose for him. One day, a fire broke out in his monastery, trapping him inside. The man went down on his knees and prayed to his gods to save him.”

“Did they?” Zoe asked curiously.

“There is more. While he waited for the gods to intervene, a soldier broke into his room, flames at his back, and told the priest to follow him. The priest replied he didn’t require help because his gods would save him. After the guard left, part of the building collapsed, and the man fell into the chambers below. It was where they’d caged the beasts they raised. A massive Fire-Maned Lion had broken free and was about to devour him. A servant fell from the upper floor onto the beast, along with more debris, killing the lion. This servant was mortally wounded and pointed toward the open gate and told the priest to flee. The priest shook his head and told the servant to remain calm because he prayed to his gods, and they’d rescue them both.”

“This is stupid. Are you making a point?” Scar-face asked.

“I’m getting there. You’ll like the ending. Since you are impatient, let’s just say the building collapsed, and the priest died. While entering the cycle of rebirth, he saw the gods his people worshiped and wailed at the injustice. Asked why they didn’t save one of their devout. The gods replied, we sent help twice, but you refused our aid. What else could they do?”

The people around the table burst out laughing.

“You think my faith is funny?”

“Not at all,” Crow replied. “But no amount of faith can help someone that doesn’t help themselves. Faith blinded that man, and he refused to see the miracles in front of his face. That’s the irony of people like you. You do things in the name of your gods but refuse to listen to what they are saying to you. Refusing to see the signs.”

“Oh, are my gods giving me a sign?”

“They said they’ve intervened twice,” Crow chuckled. “If you insist on ignoring them, then not even the gods can save your life.”

The temperature in the room dropped to zero as Crow stared into Scar-face’s eyes. As if in a trance, the boy took two steps back.

“Good,” Crow grinned. “Let’s go, Zoe. We are done here.”

“Mmm,” Zoe nodded and packed up her things while her sisters were whispering to her. Crow could see her blushing but ignored it. The sketch left him a little uncomfortable. No one said anything until the two had left the library. Finally, one of the other boys spoke.

“Vale, you shouldn’t provoke him any further. Sione’s stealth ability is frightening, and if he wants to deal with you, nothing can prevent you from disappearing.”

Vale snorted and left. His ego wouldn’t let him listen to others’ advice, no matter how sensible it was. If Vale wasn’t enough, he’d get an entire crew and gang rape that bitch in front of her impotent man.