章節 36: Enlightened Beast (1)
A wooden fortress manned by the garrison of the Silvers Kingdom might not look mighty. But due to its wide structure and stocky build, it had become a major point of focus for both kingdoms. The fortress was built to hold an inner barracks. This part of the border wasn't luscious and even drier than usual. Built over a small hill, surrounded by a wide and clear expanse, the fortress had all the advantage it needed.
The guardian soldiers would occasionally laugh and chat while manning their positions as if not on duty but visiting a vacation cabin in the woods. This was true for most of the soldiers. The fortress was well nourished. Every day, aside from their own scouts bringing back preys, the kingdom itself dispatched a supply chain protected by a Spirit Ancestor every week!
This war was basically a long, paid vacation for the soldiers. But there was one person who didn't think this to be true.
Holed inside the fortress, a black-haired youth had an expression so gloomy that water could drip out of it. He wore an unadorned black robe. His body straight and his eyes revealing a severe look.
The room he was in was quite small. The construction map of the fortress could be seen on the table.
"A fortress level mission... a fortress level mission as my first task. Does he really intend to exile me?" The youth murmured under his breath. He felt a distinct sense of loneliness but quickly shook his head.
With so many spirit masters taking part in the war, how could there not be any leak in information? Victorious spirit masters would return and talk about their experiences. Sharing their experiences, many spirit masters realized the hidden rules of this blood match.
One of the concluded rules was that for each spirit title (master, grandmaster, elder, ancestor, and so on,) there will be a ranking of the mission.
Starting from the lowest will be either protecting a supply point or destroying it. Then it would be escorting a supply, or disrupting it. There were many more recognized levels.
Aside from ranking of missions, there was a rule that once a Spirit master accepts a mission of the first kind, he won't be able to take the mission regarding the other objective.
For instance, Ja Sun was tasked with destroying a supply point. The next mission wouldn't be protecting a supply point. Instead, it was escorting a supply group. After that, he wasn't tasked with disrupting a supply but something else. Each mission would have a defender and an attacker. The roles were clear.
With the slightest bit of research, any spirit master would be able to understand all these rules now. Even Ja Sun knew it but deep down, he didn't care about these formats. Defending a tactical location needed knowledge and leadership, attacking a location needed cold calculation for higher effectiveness. These skills were present in Ja Sun long ago.
The youth who gazed at the map, meanwhile, wasn't so sure. His first mission tasked him with protecting a fort, the garrison of which wasn't willing to hear his words at all. In their eyes, they were safe and spirit masters are the ones who need to stay cautious. After so many months of observation, they weren't wrong. Aside from the single clash of the armies, this war was silently handed over to spirit masters while the public largely still believed that the war was extremely tense.
"To defend a fortress is either a fifth or sixth task. That person is clear on exiling me so there is a reason to doubt that he may have also appointed an especially difficult opponent from behind the curtains. Someone that he believes I won't be able to tackle."
The youth's gaze turned serious and he carefully studied the structure of the map. He analyzed the escape routes, particular tight defensive locations, and slightly weaker spots. The youth had already figured out two weaknesses.
The first and the obvious one— aerial attacks. The fortress still did not have any way of tackling attacks from the sky. But considering that there is only one spirit master. The second one was the mess of the fortress. Due to lax security, there is a high chance that an experienced spirit master might infiltrate the fortress using the outfit of a scout.
After all, even if a spirit grandmaster wishes to attack the fortress, he or she will not have enough spirit power to defeat all the soldiers. Spirit skills tend to consume a large amount of spirit energy.
"Defending the fortress inherently places me in a better position. I was just tasked to come here and with the mission being as long as five days, there is a high possibility that the opponent will take the chance to scout the entirety of the fortress and will strike after three days at the very least."
The black-haired man continued to ponder on his situation for the day. In the blink of an eye, the evening sun set down and in the dusk, the round moon looked elegant. The torches around the fortress were lit up to provide enough light. Within the fortress, various glowing ores lit up naturally. Soldiers continued to rotate the patrol and continued their tasks leisurely.
"Here you go," a soldier brought a plate filled with food as the black-haired spirit master opened the door. He didn't bother hiding his face behind a mask or covering himself with a cloak. Though the man lacked the necessary knowledge to survive the real world and lacked talent, too, he made up for it by studious determination.
Taking the plate silently, the man turned around and closed the door. Instead of eating himself, the man took a deep breath. Two yellow halos appeared around him and his martial soul made an appearance.
Covered in pale purple fur, wide blue eyes revealing innocent intelligence, and drooping ears of a dog. With the body comparable to a hog's this strange martial soul was an animal but instead of enhancing the spirit master's body, this martial soul could exist outside of the spirit master's body. Like a took spirit. But also a beast spirit. In Douluo Continent, this existence can be considered unique!
His martial soul sniffed the plate of food before yipping softly and running around the table. The large bell strapped onto the collar of the martial soul releasing soothing jingles as the dark-haired youth relaxed and began to eat his food.
---
The spirit master had accurately calculated the weaknesses of the fortress. The possibility of aerial attack was the highest should the spirit master have a rare flying skill.
*Flutter*
A soldier felt a soft gust of wind despite wearing armor indicating just how much force was generated with each flap of these magnificent pairs of silver wings.
"E—"
Silver light burst through the wings and the figure disappeared. The speed shocking to the core and the soldier at the highest post of the fortress felt his vision blurring before he fell into the gentle hold of a cloaked individual. The wings dispersed in silver motes of light. Through the mask, a caring look was revealed from a beautiful set of green-gold eyes.
"Polished armor and not a scratch... premium goods."
The figure instantly unbuckled the armor and the sword. His motion was so fluid and quick as if he had spent a past decade committing to the same task: Stripping men.
The armor and the buckled vanished and the dark figure began to roam the fortress unhinged. Every time he came across a soldier, he would sneak around the careless figure and strike where it is necessary to knock the guard out. The figure's hand would glimmer slightly before the attack. The energy contained was truly too small but the energy could strangely pass through the thick armors and strike the soldiers' vulnerable bodies.
Yes, these men were the top cream amongst the ordinary men and women of the continent but compared to a spirit master, especially the one who could use spirit techniques aside from spirit rings, they were too weak.
Finally, the dark figure stood in front of a rather secluded room. Since the fortress wasn't completely built into a giant behemoth, searching the rooms was a slightly easier task.
Touching the door, the dark figure: Ja Sun, closed his eyes and spread his mental energy outwards. The formless mental energy roiled. Aside from creating needles out of his mental energy, Ja Sun could only passively release it to sense his surroundings. It wasn't only due to lack of training but also knowledge.
Always scorning the saying— Fists have no eyes, Ja Sun would never use an attack whose capabilities he wasn't fully aware of. Mental energy was directly linked to one's brain and levels of consciousness. He knew how to use mental needles, he knew where to strike. But if he uses mental energy in a form even he isn't fully familiar with, it would reveal his lack of sense and discipline. As lazy as he might act, in training his own strength, Ja Sun almost bordered the realms of insanity.
Even this passive release of mental energy was barely under his control as this method would simply expend more mental energy than required.
In the room behind the door, he sensed spirit master with spirit fluctuations. His spirit rings were activated but Ja Sun couldn't sense any enhancement. Instead, he sensed another moving entity.
'A... moving dog... no...' Ja Sun's eyelids twitched. He strangely knew what this kind of Martial Soul represented.
'The door is locked and even if the spirit master doesn't suspect anything, he will soon find out that all the soldiers are paralyzed. Blasting open the door directly will impede both of our visions and the risk of getting even a single scratch increases. Not only that, his martial soul is inherently mystical in nature. I don't know if the spirit master realizes its true worth yet...' Ja Sun calmed down. He still had four days to completely destroy the fort. Instead of risking an attack during the invasion, he began to slowly pull every soldier out of the fortress and lined them outside.
It was honestly a glorious sight. A few dozens of men lying on the cold ground in their inner garments.
Then Ja Sun began to properly inspect the fortress. He took what he wanted from the barracks.
If he sells all his loot, he could easily gain 4000-5000 gold coins. This also shows how much of a scam he had pulled when he sold those techniques for 9000 gold coins and even asked for a spirit bone without a hint of shame.
Once the barracks were emptied of its equipments, Ja Sun began storing the usual utensils from the mess. Who knows if he wants to cook soup and he doesn't even have the necessary materials. Then Ja Sun started marking the truly prominent spots that held the fortress together. If the fortress has been higher and heavier, ironically, the task would have been easier. But after realizing that destroying the wide base using his own energy was more troublesome than he had originally expected, Ja Sun picked up the torches outside the fort and lit the fort up bluntly from all sides save for the main entrance.
Ja Sun had a devious smirk behind the mask. If the spirit master survives then all is well and good. If he doesn't, Ja Sun didn't care much despite his Martial Soul being exceedingly mysterious. He literally wanted to smoke the enemy out.
---
"Ruff!"
"Hmm?" Black-haired youth looked at his frantic martial soul and his expression changed. Charging out, the youth's sense of the burning smell and smoke only grew clearer.
"Luo San Pao, lead the way!" He hurriedly commanded as the dog began running in one direction: Towards the main exit!
However...
*Crackle*
The pair of spirit master and soul was forced to face the fiery corridors of the floor as the fire was spreading too fast. Since his Martial soul had already picked this direction, there was a high chance that this was the path with the greatest chance of escape.
'How can a spirit grandmaster already clear up the soldiers? Don't tell me that this task was rigged from the start...' The Spirit Master didn't have a lot of time to ponder on the situation. His first yellow ring flared up while the spirit master practically hissed, his entire body soaked in sweat due to the burning heat.
"Break wind like striking thunder, rumble the heavens, and split the earth, Luo San Pao!"
The dog martial soul instantly jumped in the air towards the column of flames, a yellow glow bursting around its body signifying the level of spirit ring used in the attack and as the incantation demanded, the Martial Soul's fart rumbled like a cataclysm. The attack, despite its exceedingly strange form, was actually a widespread shock attack!
Instantly, the man quickly retreated and flames combined with the widespread fart exploded out, destroying its surroundings but also because of this, the flames in front of him had extinguished quite a bit.
Touching his slightly strange belt, the man pulled out a radish and threw it towards the Martial Soul before continuing his escape.
After three minutes, the spirit master still had to use the same attack.
Meanwhile, alerted by the first explosion, Ja Sun made sure to fly high and observe the process. He could see through flames. In fact, out of all the elements, fire was one element that could never hope to stop Ja Sun's vision or hurt his eyes.
Observing the strange form of attack, Ja Sun couldn't help but frown. This was something he did not have in his mind.
But it didn't matter. The strange spirit master was smoked out. The tips of his hair were frizzy and his skin covered by soot. He continuously coughed and even the Martial Soul next to him strangely revealed a tired posture.
But the spirit master didn't dare let his guard down, not after seeing the unconscious soldiers.
"Where?
He instantly looked around. Suddenly feeling a gust, a chill spread through the spine of the spirit master and he looked out.
"Break wind like—" He began his incantations but would Ja Sun give him any time?
With his thumb covered with a slightly larger force of spirit energy than usual, Ja Sun pressed the point between the spirit master's forehead, and the youth instantly passed out.
Ja Sun still didn't lower his guard and with a smile, dodged the bite of the Martial Soul that didn't disappear despite the spirit master losing his consciousness.
"Now... let's see what's so different about enlightened martial souls..."
Ja Sun revoked his spirit skill once again and looked at the purple-furred dog with a glimmer in his eyes.
***
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