《A Sword Master's Travels (1)》Chapter 8 - Forbidden
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After Fang's quick escape from Ragnareen's clutches, he walked in a random direction following the dirt road. A loose forest covered the landscape surrounding the path.
The gentle wind whispered softly through the trees along with the chirping of birds. Fang felt extremely tranquil as he walked, "It really makes people's problems feel small." After a long period of walking twilight arrived and Fang went to the side of the road to cultivate and control his new awakened energy.
In Fang's soul, what had previously been a roaring river of energy had turned into a placid sea. The dam that it had broken through when he had massacred the Dreedy was a sign of truly awakening his potential. The Sword Soul energy was much easier to control because of its placidity and more potent, not to mention the massive increase in the amount available.
Sometime during the night Fang had also carved himself a wooden sword, his fingers passed through the wood like it was melted butter. In Fang's search for enlightenment he felt having a solid sword in his hand would be better than just using his Sword Soul energy. He also felt that his fighting skills were getting rusty from no use.
The sun rose and Fang continued his journey into the far distance and he had encountered no other travellers. In Fang's life, he had fought ever since he was young. His father had trained him as a child and he fought for his life and strength after his father's death. Fang had rarely encountered peace in his experiences, he was always thinking about gaining power and ambition in his brief breaks of peace.
In his old world strength was the central rule and he had made many enemies by refusing to bow. He had to seek strength to survive and prosper. Now, Fang was just walking without a care in the world, secure in his power and looking for new things to experience. Even age was not a problem to a cultivator as powerful as him."Why do people have to oppress each other? Its all just so petty."
The peace he had not known for his lives began to reach into him. What reached him the most was the simplicity of nature that was so far away from the power struggles and ambitions of lesser beings.
"Could I use this simplicity?" Fang was currently going through enlightenment on simplicity. Complex sword techniques used all types of various methods to gain the advantage over the enemy but they all branched from the same foundations. The insights in offense and defense given by the Tiger and Turtle integrated themselves into his insights on the foundation of swordplay and greatly boosted his comprehension.
Swordsmanship is based off the foundations of attack and defense. Any extremely complex or fine styles were just elaborated versions of the foundation.
Occasionally Fang would use his wooden sword to practice his insights, fighting against the shadows of past opponents.
Another day passed and Fang cultivated in the night. His body was getting even stronger and the control over his energy more refined.
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The sun rose once again and he continued his journey. "Where are the people? I've been walking for two days and I haven't seen a single person." There should be other travellers on the road like merchants or mercenaries. Maybe in this world people don't like to move?
Time passed and still no people were seen. Fang continued gaining insights on the simplicity of nature. "It's simple, yet complex..." The landscape changed as the trees became thicker, stood to stupendous heights, and were curiously green. Vegetation grew about wildly.
Fang had walked a good distance when he sensed a few people that had begun following him while staying in the trees. He picked up more and more people as walked deeper into the forest.
Suddenly, an object shot out and pierced the ground in front of Fang. It was a green colored arrow. The people following him quickly surrounded him and one figure seemed to come out of a tree to approach him.
She was beautiful with a modest bosom and long slender legs. She wore a green skirt and boots that complemented the emerald green hair that reached her hips. A large bow was in her hands along with a quiver of green arrows on her back, slender blades were tied to her skirt. However, the most eye-catching feature were her long ears that extended into the air.
"Halt intruder! Do you not know that you enter forbidden land?" She said in a proud voice.
"Actually, I don't know this is forbidden land. Could you explain why it's forbidden?" Fang replied.
The woman seemed perturbed at his response. Really, who doesn't know? "This is the territory of the Elves, human. Turn back now."
"What the heck is an elf?" Fang wondered. Anyway, he couldn't go back with that crazy woman waiting for him.
"I apologize but I can't go back. Couldn't you just let me pass this once?"
She looked at him surprised. "This is your last warning outsider."
Fang pondered, "Why is this forbidden land? Why does she have such long ears? So many questions need to be answered!" His decision being made, Fang began walking foward with his wooden sword drawn, ignoring the woman's warnings.
"Hmph. So be it!" The woman lept into the trees and blended with them before a storm of arrows descended upon Fang. Any normal person would be killed or heavily wounded, but Fang was prepared.
The wooden sword seemingly danced in his hand with the simplest and most efficient of movements, redirecting the arrows into the ground around him. A pause followed then the arrows flew out even more thickly from the trees around him.
No matter how many arrows flew they were all directed into the ground. "This is great practice!" Fang had gained insights into nature but lacked a tangible opponent on which to test his skills. The arrows flying wildly at him from all directions helped solve the problem.
Fang walked further down the road heading deeper into the forbidden land while deflecting arrows. The archers hiding in the trees picked up the arrows deflected into the ground and went back to shooting. Half a day passed when Fang finally found what looked like a city.
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Great emerald green trees towered into the sky while their canopies encompassed it. Elaborate wooden houses settled amongst the branches and trunks of these gargantuan trees. Fancy staircases spiraled around the trunks and the hanging lights gave it all a wondrous feeling. The city spread for what seemed quite a distance.
Fang's wooden sword blurred around him as he looked at the settlement. "This is amazing!" He had never seen anything like this in his past experiences.
It was late afternoon when Fang arrived at the settlement and also the same time that the torrent of arrows finally stopped. The woman from before wearily stepped out from the trees. At the same time even more archers appeared out of the city led by a valiant looking elder with gray hair.
They all had long ears, hair, and more alarmingly they all seemed to be either handsome or beautiful depending on gender. The males wore finely crafted green tunics and pants while the females wore dresses, as if they were recently called out of their homes to fight.
The archers surrounded Fang at a distance and the elder with gray hair stepped foward.
"Who are you intruder and how do you know the elven language" He said in a grizzled voice. They all seemed wary of Fang because they had heard of how he walked here unharmed.
The thought of why he seemed able to speak different languages crossed his mind, but he hadn't had the chance to investigate when he was attacked by a predator.
"My name is Fang and I came here because I was curious about what was in this forbidden land. I had not expected to find such a beautiful place hidden here."
The elder seemed confused, "What a foolish reason. Explain why you're really here." Clearly he didn't believe Fang.
Fang was beginning to get irritated at all of this. "First you attempt to kill me and now you tell me that I'm lying to you? I've come in friendship, please believe me. I just want to learn about your people and culture."
The elder had a skeptical look on his face. "Leave this place and head back the way you came or never leave this place at all." A moment passed and Fang remained silent. He had no intention of leaving. "Accept me goddamnit! Not to mention this place is so in touch with nature, I could easily gain insights much more quickly here." Fang thought.
The elder waved his hand and walked away when he saw Fang remain in place. Arrows immediately began flying at him from all directions as the archers scattered to the trees. Swordsman stood in front wielding long slender blades, blocking Fang from entering the city.
Fang deflected arrows for one entire day. The archers took shifts firing at him and the swordsman that approached were easily knocked away with bruises to reward their effort.
After the day passed the elder approached once again. "What do you want outsider? Why do you so adamantly stay here on pain of death?"
"I just want to learn about your people and culture. I mean no harm and will leave once I am satisfied. Please, believe me." Fang pleaded. He could see the fear and anger in the eyes of the archers, they had a reason to treat him like this. In a matter of fact, he was also getting pissed off.
The elder looked at him with admiration. Any other human would have died by this point and he was remarkably durable.
In the end he shook his head once again. "Any and all humans are our enemies. I can not let you pass. Turn back now."
Fang was already pissed off that they had tried to kill him the entire time he was here. He had not done anything to them and they would not listen to his requests for friendship. If he was weaker then he would already be dead and buried in an unmarked grave.
Fang's face turned from clam to serious in a flash. "I'm done playing games with all of you. You have attempted to kill me countless times, you have rejected my friendship. I will not be denied because of this foolishness. Anyone who attempts to harm me will lose their hands. Rejoice that I will not slaughter all of you." He then began walking foward towards the city.
The White Tiger's Aura rolled out from Fang like a tide. Any and all who saw him would think of him as an overlord, undisputable ruler of all he laid eyes upon.
The surrounding soldiers were startled at the outburst and crushed by the pressure from the aura.
The elder was shocked, "Is he ranked SS?! What is this formidable pressure?!"
Everyone had frozen in place while Fang advanced towards the city in the trees. One soldier snapped out of his stunned state and shot an arrow at Fang.
The arrow disintegrated mid-flight and a miserable scream came out as the man's hands had seemingly slipped off of his arms. Blood fountained out of the two appendages.
All of the soldiers turned pale with fright at the scene and didn't dare attack. They hadn't even seen the attack that injured the man at such a long range.
Fang advanced into the city unimpeded, he was thoroughly pissed off at the stupidity of the people here. "I am Fang, I will go where I want, when I want. Who dares to stop me?" If he looked into his soul at this moment, he would see the chaos embedded in his soul flickering brilliantly.
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