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Chapter 1: First Meet
🕑 Added 2024-08-07 08:12:08 +0000 UTCThird Person P.O.V
Xiao Ning'er, just as she had been doing for a while now, trotted through the forest in the school's training ground, with agile movements like those of a feline, she moved around trees, branches, and the like.
Even with the dark landscape obstructing her vision, there was no hesitation in any of her movements, until after a few minutes, she finally approached the end of the forest deep within the place, all so that no one would interrupt her or find her while she tirelessly practiced her cultivation.
A few dozen meters ahead of her, she could see the final barrier of trees, where once she crossed them, she would find herself in a small clearing that she had informally designated as her training place.
But when she was about to step out onto the clear field, something stopped her, a voice and an unknown pressure were picked up by her senses, the first sounding like an excited shout from a boy and the second, although it was not oppressive, Xiao Ning'er could clearly tell that it was from someone strong.
"HAHAHA!!!" The voice laughed in a clearly excited tone at the same time as a white light originated in the clearing where she was heading, and for a moment, Ning'er considered whether she should turn around and leave, or go closer to see what was happening.
And in the end, after a second that felt like an eternity to her, she couldn't help her curiosity and peeked her head out from behind a bush.
Ning'er's eyes widened in surprise, a boy, one who seemed to be a little older than her was standing in the middle of the clearing while a white aura surrounded him.
The orange-haired girl extended her senses, and her surprise grew even more, those who cultivated to become demonic spiritualists always emitted an invisible aura, one that, if they didn't intentionally hide it, would expand into the surroundings like a mist, making their presence, and the rank in which said spiritualist was.
But what Ning'er felt from this boy was different in so many ways that she didn't know how it was possible, first was that the aura he had was different from anything she had felt before, this energy he emitted felt somehow similar but distinct to soul force.
And the second thing was that his energy didn't spread out into the surroundings, this person's energy had all gathered around him like an armor, wasting almost none of it and considerably limiting his presence.
And although she couldn't exactly measure what the young man's cultivation level was, which was incredibly rare since each rank was distinguishable, and each step within each rank was as well, Ning'er could safely say that he shouldn't be weaker than someone at the peak of the silver rank at the very least.
Taking all this into account she didn't know what to think, she just stood there watching the whole spectacle, when once again, something shocking happened again.
With fluid movements, the young man took a stance. "KAAAAMEEE!!"
Shock hit Ning'er again when she felt this person's aura grow even more as he took a stance, and a light was born between the young man's palms.
"HAAAAAMEEEE!!!" The brightness of the light, as well as the intensity of the aura, continued to increase until finally...
"HAAAAAA!!!!" From the young man's hands, a light blue ray of energy shot into the sky, flying at high speed through a cloud and getting lost in the void of the night.
The young man remained in the same position he launched the attack for a few seconds and then raised both arms as he spoke, happiness evident in his voice. "Ha, take that, and it only took me a few days!! Gohan? Goku? Broly? Vegeta? I'm going to surpass them all!"
Ning'er didn't know what to say, just a few days? A few days to achieve what? The attack he had launched into the skies? The powerful aura that covered him? Maybe both? Something like that was unheard of.
Inside her chest, Ning'er felt a hint of envy and bitterness, if she were as strong as him, no! Not even that, if she possessed just 1/5 of the strength he had just displayed, not only would it be possible to eliminate the marriage she was being forced into, but she would break all the shackles her family had placed on her, she would be truly free.
If only she…
*Crack
Without realizing it, she took a step forward, which ended with her stepping on a branch, which broke and seemed to attract the attention of the boy in the clearing.
"Um?" He turned around, looking in her direction, but not seeing her because she was still behind a bush.
"I know you're there, come out or I'll consider you an enemy." He said, and Ning'er thought about whether she should run away, but the idea died quickly when she remembered the power she had felt emanating from him, escape would be impossible, much less fighting, if she tried, she would surely be a corpse after a few seconds.
So she came out from behind the bush raising her arms to show that she had no hostile intentions.
And only when they were face to face could she see his appearance properly, spiky hair that seemed to defy gravity, lively eyes that showed curiosity rather than hostility when they saw her.
"You... I don't know you." He said after a few seconds of silence.
"My name is Xiao Ning'er, a member of the Winged Dragon family." She said, because even though her family wasn't too important, it could still provide some security among the nobility of Glory City.
"Xiao Ning'er, umm… no, I'm sorry, I don't recognize your name or your family's." The stranger said while holding a hand to his chin and putting on a thoughtful expression.
"What?!" Xiao Ning'er couldn't believe what she had just heard, she would understand if he didn't know her, after all, she was just a student at the academy, but her Winged Dragon family? While it was true that they were a declining noble family, they still held an important enough position that anyone in Glory City had heard of them.
Noticing the girl's disbelief, the strange boy with the peculiar hairstyle quickly clarified. "Ah, I apologize if I was rude, I didn't mean to insult you, I'm new to the city, I arrived just three days ago, so besides a certain noble family that helped me, I don't know any others." He explained, rubbing his neck.
And once again, Ning'er didn't know how to respond, this person, the boy in front of her, was really someone who had come from outside of Glory City? Weren't they the last bastion of humanity that existed besides the despicable members of the dark guild?
Perhaps... he was a member of that band of despicable criminals?
No, that didn't make much sense, he wouldn't talk so calmly to her or reveal that he had arrived in this city recently if that was the case.
"Um, then, why were you spying on me?"
"I... came to cultivate, I use this place three times a week"
"Oh, so that was why? Well, I think this clearing is big enough for the two of us, so I have no problem if you want to stay and practice, I've already finished the most outrageous part of my training so I don't think I'll interrupt you, I just have to sit and meditate a bit"
Ning'er blinked a few times as the boy turned around and walked away, was he really going to let her watch him cultivate if she wanted to?
When a person cultivated, they were exposed, so much so that they could easily be vulnerable to attack from a considerably weaker enemy, that was the reason why when a person cultivated, they did so alone, in a place where they knew they would be safe or in the company of a person that the cultivator could trust with their life.
Watching the strange boy sit in the lotus position and close his eyes, she stood still for a few seconds, considering whether she should leave now that she seemed to have the opportunity to do so, but in the end, she didn't.
The person in front of her was strong, she could tell that, and if she could learn something from watching him, even just a little, it would be an extra boost in her fight to earn her freedom, so she could live freely.
With her decision made, Ning'er finally entered the clearing and sat down a few meters away from him, she wouldn't cultivate, at least not for now, after all, although this stranger seemed to trust that she wouldn't hurt him, it wasn't the same for her.
The minutes passed, and she did not notice any notable difference, this time his aura did not rise as before, in fact, he did not even seem to be cultivating, since when one did so, regardless of the technique being practiced, all cultivators connected with heaven and earth, increasing their power by absorbing more energy and understanding the secrets that their technique contained.
It was then that Ning'er realized something, the last time she had sensed something from this boy she had done so by extending her senses and 'touching' him with her soul force, so this time she did it once more.
And it was then that she "saw" it, there it was, that strange energy that felt somewhat similar to soul force, but, at the same time, felt different.
This energy rippled, seeming to gather in certain parts of the young man's body at times and other times covering his entire body, in a way it reminded her of a candle flame if someone blew it with enough force so that the flame wavered erratically, but did not go out.
All of this was… new, and, in a way intriguing, it was completely different from the times she had felt her father cultivate.
The minutes passed, and she noticed how the boy's brow furrowed more and more, making an unpleasant grimace like the one someone would make when making a considerable effort or when they were enduring some kind of discomfort.
From one moment to the next he saw something more worrying, blood, blood began to leak from the boy's lips only for a few seconds later his eyes to suddenly open, and his body to fall forward, but he managed to support himself with his arms and stop his fall.
"Ah, ah, ah." He breathed heavily as a satisfied smile made its way onto his expression. "I finally beat them." He managed to say before raising his head and looking at her.
"Ah, you were looking at me?"
"You… what did you do?" Ning'er asked, at this point wondering if staying had really been the right choice.
"Umm, well, I was fighting"
"Fighting? But you weren't moving, and there wasn't even anyone else here besides us"
"I was fighting here." He said as he touched his temple with a finger, and seeing the girl's confused expression, he elaborated a little further. "Have you ever imagined that you're fighting someone you know?" He asked, and she nodded a few times.
"It's something like that, but a little more complicated, do you want to see?" He asked as he extended his hand towards her.
Ning'er hesitated, nothing she had seen this boy do made sense, and now he was asking her to hold his hand?
It wasn't logical, and in any other scenario where a boy asked her to hold his hand, she would coldly reject him, and if he was a shameless guy with ulterior motives, she would beat him up enough so that he would never try to talk to her again.
But looking into the eyes of the person in front of her, she couldn't see any of the emotions she had managed to identify in the gazes of some of the scoundrels she had had the misfortune of meeting, so, with a little hesitation, she extended her hand until she took his.
"Very well, concentrate on my energy." He said and closed his eyes.
She did the same and concentrated on her soul force, feeling how his strange energy tried to connect with hers, and as if they were two ropes, the energies intertwined, and Ning'er felt a tug, and when she opened her eyes, all she could see was black.
An infinite black void where there was only her, and the person in front of her.
"W-what is this?" She asked a little scared.
"We are in a place that connects our minds, here you can fight anyone you have faced before, for example." He explained and then turned his head to the side.
Following his gaze, Ning'er saw how a demonic beast emerged from nowhere, one of the type that abounded in the training camp where they had been until recently, a horned sheep.
The beast made an annoyed sound and ran toward the boy at full speed, but he simply took a stance and threw a strong punch that hit the goat's head, making it explode and turn to dust.
Ning'er felt another tug, and her eyes opened again, she quickly realized that she was back in the clearing as she held the mysterious boy's hand.
"See? I was fighting a pack of gorilla monsters that I encountered while coming to this city, those apes almost killed me, if it weren't for that man who saved me I wouldn't be here, so I wanted to face them once more and defeat them"
Ning'er looked at the young man in shock, still trying to process what she had seen and the fact that it really seemed like the person in front of her was from outside of Glory City.
"Who in the world are you?" She asked in surprise.
"Ah, that's right, I didn't tell you my name, did I? Nice to meet you, my name is Leek." He introduced himself with a smile.
