The Innkeeper

The arrow bounced off Lex's barrier with a simple clang sound, as if nothing happened, but Lex's casual expression turned serious. Although there was no visible sign of it, the arrow had nearly punctured his barrier!

"We're too exposed, jump down," Cwenhild said, before jumping down herself as well. Indeed, the entire group standing near the tip of a very long tree made them easy targets.

Lex jumped down as well, his guard up the entire time, but there was no follow up attack. Considering that they hadn't even been able to see who the attacker was, the group raised their guard instead of relaxing in the absence of a follow up.

"Do you think they gave up after their first attack failed?" one of the group members asked.

"Possibly. But that attack was very misleading. The speed and sound of the arrow made it seem like it was ordinary, but if anyone else would have blocked it, the arrow would have torn through your defense. Whoever attacked was very powerful. If they were just probing, then it's likely that they're gone, but if they're targeting us, then they're probably just waiting for us to drop our guard."

"Lex, say on guard. Warn us as soon as you sense something off. Patrick, scan the ruins. We're looking for high or concentrated energy signatures. If we don't pick up anything, we'll make a beeline for the mountains."

The group spread out a bit, while Cindy and Ness went out to see if they could learn anything about their tracker. Patrick scanned the ruins, but this time it took much longer for he was being careful not to attract too much attention.

When Cindy and Ness returned, their report was worrying. They couldn't pick up any signs of their attacker whatsoever. This meant that whoever it was, they were extremely proficient in counter tracking, not to mention there was no way of knowing if they were around or had left. Lex couldn't sense anything at the moment, but that wasn't any assurance.

"There are three extremely concentrated energy zones in the ruins, as well as many life forms. I can't differentiate between beasts and people from a basic scan, but regardless, the ruins are full."

"Lead us to the nearest one. We'll take the most direct route."

Cwenhild's focus now was on being as direct as possible to save time, but for better or for worse, the peaceful portion of their journey came to an end. While they still created an intimidating enemy for beasts, the beasts were already being attacked by numerous students who teleported near these ruins. In the midst of battle, even if they faced an impossible foe, they had no choice but to fight - and fight they did.

The group quickly figured out that the ruins had split into three territories belonging to two different beast packs and one flock or avian beasts, and all of them were ferocious. Perhaps under normal circumstances, it would have taken them time to cut through them, but Cwenhild had finally stepped away from just commanding, and was leading the group directly beside Patrick.

Her choice of weapon was an enchanted glaive, though Lex had yet to see her use her enchantments because no foe could survive more than a single cut. Lex wasn't measuring time, but they reached the first concentrated energy zone fairly quickly - and it became immediately apparent why the energy was so dense here.

There was a formation, surrounding a single story building. The building was completely untouched, and gave the group a glimpse of what these ruins must have looked like in their glory days.

But neither the smooth white walls nor the intricate blue tile patterns drew the group's attention here. Instead, it was a battle between a group of humans and beasts that drew their sight.

Cwenhild frowned, then sighed. She could foresee how this would end, but… the beasts had to die for them to figure out how to get through the formation, so she led her group to attack.

The beasts gave them no problem at all, and in a few minutes, the fighting ended. The humans didn't immediately thank them for the assistance, though, and eyed them warily.

A glance was all it took to tell that Cwenhild and the rest were together, while the others had come together out of the necessity of the moment. Cwenhild held the advantage but the allure of whatever treasure this building held was enough to get them to try.

There was a silent stand off between the two groups, each waiting to see how the other would react, until Lex let out an annoyed sigh.

"Alright, alright. Let's get on with it. Which one of you is the strongest? Try and attack me. If you can prick my finger, you can join us. If not, I suggest you leave. This is not me forcing you, just by the way. This is me strongly advising you not to fling yourself off a cliff, because you won't like the ending."

Without waiting for a reply, Lex held out his hand, as if inviting them to attack. His nonchalance irritated the other group, while his companions silently observed him. In the end, a particularly well dressed student broke out of the group, looking at Lex with disdain.

"Who do you think you are, to advise me? I'm advising you, little kid. Get lost, and never show me your face again. If I unleash an attack, let alone your finger, even your ancestors will be decimated. Next time, wash your teeth before talking to me, because your breath stinks just as bad as your threats. You…"

Lex stopped listening as his expression fell. He was not one to be easily irked by insults, but he suddenly had flashbacks of the system telling him to brush as well. He was an extremely clean and hygienic person, goddammit!

"Do whatever you want," Lex said as he put down his arm and returned to the group, ignoring the verbal diarrhea being spewed by the arrogant prick. The group was smirking and chuckling as Lex walked back, all enjoying his slight humiliation.

It was not out of spite. It was just that Lex was the only one who ever came out of their fights and training unharmed, so now that he finally suffered some kind of loss they couldn't help but enjoy it. Cwenhild, too, felt the urge to tease Lex, but ultimately didn't as she wanted to stay on task.

Without any forewarning, Cwenhild appeared before the ranting student and rammed the backend of her glaive into his stomach, throwing him to the ground. The remaining students, caught off guard, were shocked, and then angered. Though before they could respond, Bearin appeared in front of them and crashed right into their group.

He was careful not to use too much force, as he didn't want to kill anyone. But the difference between an elite, dual path cultivator and a single path cultivator became easily apparent.

"This is your only warning," Cwenhild said, looking at the group with stern eyes. "Get lost or we'll stop holding back."

As he watched the fear and anger paint the students faces, Lex snorted. That's what they got for wasting his good intentions.

"Any idea how to open the formation?" Tim asked. "I can try using my bloodline to do some damage, but if opening this was as simple as brute force, I doubt this formation would have lasted this long."

"I could try to read the formation, but that would take a while," said Lex.

"No need, we've come prepared. Jovi, link up."

Jovi quickly ran up to the formation and opened up his backpack, taking out a number of items that looked like hex nuts. One by one, he began attaching them to the formation surrounding the building, making sure he attached them perfectly level with one another. In the end, he handed the last one to Cwenhild who did not waste time on explanations or ceremony. She channeled her spirit energy, activating whatever items these were. The formation immediately reacted, warping into odd shapes until, eventually, the formation shattered.

A wave of dense spirit energy flooded out when the formation collapsed, causing Lex to become momentarily stunned. He was not the only one, as the entire group froze. Not only was this energy extremely concentrated, it was of a much higher quality than whatever they were absorbing.

But the stun effect only lasted a moment, mostly because the system absorbed it all! The accumulation rose by 0.1%, bringing his total to 1.3%.

Once the rest of the group recovered as well, their eyes became frenzied with excitement and greed as they looked at the building. Whatever it was holding had to be absolutely amazing!

"Let go," Cwenhild said, "but don't drop your guard. If whoever shot that arrow is still around, they'll take advantage of any distraction."

The group quickly recomposed themselves and went towards the building, only for the doors to open on their own.

"Welcome guests," said a warm, deep voice.