Chapter 27: Phoenix Squadron Part 2

Karen and Bakura hid among the treetops as several Practitioner groups fell victim to Jasper's traps. Kairi and Karen couldn't bear to watch as Agemo shot the mages first while Jasper sprang forth to kill the others before they could recover. Kairi paled but proceeded to take the phoenix eggs. Some groups had rank 1 demonic cores, but they really needed rank 3 or 4 demonic cores. Bakura didn’t switch his egg, even when he saw larger ones. Karen watched in horror as Agemo and Jasper cracked some eggs and added them to the pot of soup they made as night fell.

"Not a bad first day. Even if we didn’t get any of our goal of three rank 3 demonic cores or a rank 4 demonic core, we got a lot of storage bags," Jasper said. "Nice call on the traps."

"I’m surprised you didn’t throw up like the others," Agemo said as he passed bowls of soup around.

"Not my first time hunting. Sometimes, my dad brought me along when he went to kill bandits. He knew I wanted to be a Practitioner and wanted me to get used to the blood early so it wouldn’t disturb me if I was alone and needed to kill to save my own skin," Jasper answered. "Still, we can’t do this tomorrow. No doubt, others will have heard about all the disappearances. We should head to the mountains tomorrow."

Agemo left the area and went to the stream nearby. As he had set traps, he memorized the layout of the area. He began cultivating as he sat on a large rock in the middle of the stream. Small ripples formed as Agemo let his spirit energy flow. The vermilion energy coiled around his spirit energy as it spread throughout his body. He felt a refreshing sensation as the Eclipse Indestructible Body technique was finally mastered after a year. The white energy had entered his body and began to become part of his skin.

"The breathing technique is a success. I don’t think I can make it any better," Agemo brooded. "I need to think of a way to defend my soul. For now, I’ll practice my two spirit techniques. I don’t dare use the Black Cloud Desolation. Thunder spirit techniques are safely used from the third rank on."

Agemo closed his eyes and retreated his mind into the Mystic Stone. The soul lake had grown bigger and deeper. The outlines of both the Metal Face Mask spirit and the White Ocean Tiger spirit had fully formed. Agemo opened his eyes and began to practice his technique. Using the Radiant Howl technique, blades of water slashed the bank of the stream. Sword marks littered the area as Agemo repeated the technique several times. When the night grew dark enough that the moon illuminated the sky, Agemo returned to the camp where the others were resting.

"Done training?" Jasper asked as he cleaned his bear traps.

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"Still up?" Agemo asked as he sat down by the fire.

"Someone’s got to keep watch. Kairi’s got the last shift until dawn," Jasper answered. "Can I ask you something? Why do you pursue power?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I was reborn and became a Practitioner out of the blue?" Agemo sighed and stared at the moon, lost in thought. "I’ve been on the run for a long time. I lost some memories along the way. I began to wonder why I started running. Next thing I know, I can stop running and began cultivation."

"Have you never stopped and enjoyed the world?" Jasper asked.

"Ha! I never once thought about it," Agemo chuckled. "Perhaps when I am stronger, I’ll be able to relax and enjoy the life of the mundane. The life of an ordinary person. However, there are too many Spirit Knights in the world."

"True. You can run westward and avoid the Hyperion, but there are still Spirit Knights and elite mages who will do whatever they want and take whatever they want," Jasper said sadly. "You need strength to protect yourself and what’s yours. Money only delays that. There aren’t that many Spirit Knights outside of the Kingdom of Kasara or the Yan Empire, but it is precisely that which makes it unsafe."

Agemo drank some lion wine and said, "Yeah. This world’s dangerous. We might be strong amongst ourselves, but we are nothing to Spirit Knights. I’m going to rest. You should switch with Karen once you’re done cleaning your traps. They worked well. We’ll have to come up with a different tactic tomorrow. How many teams did we kill or scare away?"

"Heh. We got thirty-seven phoenix eggs, minus the two we ate in the soup. We also scared a few others. There should be fewer people tomorrow. We’re lucky none of the villainous people were strong enough to kill us. There’ll be even more powerful ones tomorrow. I saw some wounds on some of the participants before they fell into our traps. We’re hunting defensively, but there must be a few groups who are even more aggressive than we are," Jasper said as they nodded and the night went on.

"A new day. A new day," Bakura repeated happily. "Now we can really start the hunt."

"You guys gonna be okay with killing now, if the need arises?" Agemo asked, looking at Karen and Kairi.

They nodded, and Agemo took the lead with his spirit sense while the others followed him. Kairi was also sensitive to spirit energy, but not on Agemo’s level. She was in the rear to detect any people or beasts that might try to sneak from the flank or from behind. They approached the mountains as they left the forest. Karen and Kairi threw up when they found bodies of people scattered all over the place. Bakura and Jasper also struggled as they forcefully swallowed their nausea. Agemo felt no disgust or discomfort as he looked over the area.

"I guess my demonic nature has even changed my mentality," Agemo thought. "So many bodies, but a part of me enjoys seeing so many. However, why are there so many bodies here?"

"Something wrong?" Jasper asked as he rinsed his throat with water from his gourd.

"There are too many bodies here. Some haven’t even drawn their weapons," Agemo said as he looked through the bodies and the way they lay on the ground. "None of them have any storage bags. This was not done by a magical beast. Look. The ground has too many scorch marks. It doesn’t seem to be from fire. Most of the bodies also seem fried."

"Fuck, a rogue party with a third-stage Spirit Shaman," Bakura cursed. "I recognize marks like these. They’re made by lightning. I was struck by lightning when I was a kid once. I was paralyzed in bed for weeks. Lucky to still be alive then."

"You mean people did all this on purpose?" Kairi gasped. "Not even assassinations among nobles are this ghastly."

"Your family must have been important," Karen said. "I’ve passed through some towns where whole clans were annihilated. I had nightmares for days, but I never saw them get killed. What do we do? We can’t face that kind of power while protecting Bakura."

"I can fend for myself!" Bakura said, bumping his chest with his fist.

"The bodies are fresher toward the mountain. We might have no choice," Agemo said as he walked closer to the mountains to check the other bodies. Hm? This body is different. He didn’t die like the others. He died from multiple wounds."

"A second-stage Spirit Shaman. Probably just became one too. That robe...I’ve seen it before," Jasper said. "It was during the maze trial I did with Kairi."

"That’s a member of the Blood Vein Sect," Kairi said. "I have a photographic memory. I never forget what I see, no matter how much I wish not to. I know eight of them passed the trial. They really hated mages. Those fiends wearing the black and crimson-seamed robes."

"Well, one’s dead, so there’ll be seven left. Do you remember how strong they are?" Karen asked.

"I only know that only two of them were not at the first stage when the second trial ended," Kairi answered.

"Seven people, minus the one that died, killed over two hundred?" Agemo frowned. "That’s way too unreasonable if they just entered the second stage."

"It was poison," Jasper said as he took a closer look. "See there? Some of their mouths have foam inside them. They all probably gathered outside the forest and grouped together as they were too scared. A different kind of trap. How heinous."

"Probably a third of the participants died here. It can’t be all of them," Agemo said. "We know what they look like now. To be sure, we avoid all people we might see. Even if they cry for help, don’t assist them. It might be cruel, but it might also be a trap."

"Agemo, take point. Kairi will bring up the rear. We need to get those demonic cores and get the hell out of here. The faster we pass the trial, the better," Jasper said as he spat on the dead Blood Vein Sect member.

"What about the bodies? What are those proctors doing?" Kairi asked.

"Their job," Bakura said coldly. "They said their job is to watch, right? That’s what they did. Watched. We better go."

Agemo looked at the ground for tracks. He saw footprints and began to follow the trail, focusing his spirit energy into his eyes. He could see several concentrations of

spirit energy ahead. He turned back to face the others.

"Do any of you have mounts?" Agemo asked.

"No," they all answered.

"I see. Kairi, lead the others toward the top of that mountain ledge there. Jasper, try to come up with a plan to make a landslide. I don’t know Karen’s capabilities, so I leave it to you," Agemo said as he withdrew his magical beast tiger and went atop it. "I’m going to lure those bastards in. Make a small cave and hide Bakura in there. I’ll try to take on the leader."

"Right. Be careful," Jasper said as Kairi began leading them toward the cliffside at a run.

"I need to get rid of those kinds of people here," Agemo snarled as his tiger broke into a charge to the right.

He led his tiger through the field and to the foot of the mountain. He put the tiger away and nocked an arrow. He let his spirit energy flow into the earth and spread out. He closed his eyes and placed his palm on the ground. Then he sensed them. Six signatures, not seven, were close together. One of them had a high concentration compared to the others.

"Found you," Agemo growled and ran higher up the mountain before walking in their direction.

He saw them, six people in black and crimson robes huddled together. He could see the body of a naked girl. He didn’t sense her spirit energy. She was dead for sure. He wanted to use the Sentinel Bow and kill them all, but the people at the stadium were watching. They would obviously covet the bow, and he wasn’t strong enough to protect himself. He reinforced the silver bow and string with his spirit energy as he pulled the bowstring back. He focused most of his water spirit energy into the arrow.

Water was an element that ruled the planet. Life needed water to survive, and water could also take life away. Water could become as hard as steel or cut like steel. Agemo began incorporating the Radiant Howl technique into the arrow. The arrow began to let out a soft howl as water formed along the edges of the arrow.

"Die," Agemo said coldly as he aimed at the closest member to the dead girl and released the arrow, which pointed just a little bit higher.