by Ivory Scott
"You stink again, young master Joseph." Sek Si's gentle whisper secretly gave Jodye goosebumps. He almost didn't even twitch when she called him Joseph. Almost.
"Do not move. Your mother has discovered some people entering secretly to spy on you..." Sek Si paused as if she had to consider carefully what to say next. In the end, she spoke, "Mn, it should be because of the origin energy vortex you attracted when you broke through."
My mom? Spies? Vortex? Broken through? Jodye Trill was so confused. To his shock, when he moved his lips, no sound came out. Was this part of Sek's ability? Scary! Jodye made a mental note to deepen his understanding of Sek Si and the Si clan.
"Petty tricks!" shouted a husky and violent voice, as a huge palm imprint rocketed directly towards their location. Sek Si paled in fright, but Jodye was totally unmoved. He indeed had ample experience and was unafraid of death, but this was not the source of his composure. In Jodye's mind, if this warning indeed originated from his mother, then the chances of him getting hurt were near null. He knew his mother well, and she would never let him come into harm's way.
If there were a situation she couldn't handle, then he would already be at her side.
Sure enough, as soon as Jodye had these thoughts, the palm imprint from the mysterious assassin was frozen mid-air and slowly corroded away into pink ice dust. The temperature in the room instantly plummeted.
"How bold!" Came a heavenly and melodious, yet piercingly cold voice that echoed all around the room. Jodye and Sek could not tell where either of the instigators of this event was, so they merely stood silently in the shadows, listening to energies clashing all around them. Jodye Trill didn't dare to cast his spiritual sense outwards out of fear of detection. He didn't have enough intel, he had no idea how many enemies there were. He noticed Sek Si was shivering behind him, so he turned around to face her. She was pale as a sheet and looked terrified.
'A child is a child after all...' thought the also five-years-old Jodye Trill, as he grabbed Sek Si's hand and held it tightly. Since his voice was suppressed, words were now useless. He would have to comfort her through action.
Sek was startled as she looked into Jodye's deep ocean like eyes. The slight glow they emitted threatened to swallow her whole, as she blushed and looked away. Right at that moment, that shadow world around them shattered like glass as they appeared back in the room.
"Aaah!" Sek Si shrieked while clutching her head before she fainted in Jodye's arms. He caught her and noticed blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. For the first time in his current life, he felt unbridled anger bubbling up in his stomach. As his rage grew his five astral points went active on their own. Jodye was so startled by this discovery that his anger temporarily subsided, and his astral points became dormant once more.
"Hehe, found you, twerp," there was an ugly but muscular goon in black garb, towering over Jodye Trill and the unconscious Sek Si. Behind him were two masked figures in the same clothing. On the left shoulder of each of them, there was a jade python insignia. The ugly muscle-head looked menacing and had a sinister black aura that made Jodye feel like he was suffocating, "Even if that blue-eyed witch kills Frankie, I'll avenge him by ending your dog life! You, take 'em out. Be quick about it."
One of the two followers stepped forward and released his strength, his golden aura sweeping out, the force of which knocked over several items in the room. Above the follower, the primary force phenomenon appeared and coalesced into 12 marble-sized white spheres of light that circulated within his aura in the shape of a small python!
It was becoming impossible to breathe, and Jodye was terrified to find that he felt his breath of life fading away. Was he actually dying?! How fucking strong did one have to be to kill others with nothing but the pressure from their aura? Or maybe he was just too weak!
"Am I really going to die here?”
"Gold aura, 12 bp, a Sophomore Rank Sage!"
"That's nothing. Don't be afraid, kid, just fight! Release your damn strength!" Xavier and then Sylvester Tricko's voice ring out in Jodye's mind, waking him up from his panic.
"That's right, how can I sit here idly, and wait for rescue without fighting," Jodye Trill's eyes became sharp, as he stopped repressing his bubbling rage and his titanic combat force burst out for the first time! The combat force was different from the forces of the heavens and earth, as it came from within a cultivator. Being able to turn one's own battle aura into fierce energy able to resist the forces of heaven and earth was known as having combat force!
As his anger exploded his five astral points activated on their own, increasing the strength of his attacks. Instantly, the pressure he felt from before had vanished completely. If he were to attack right now, his fists would be like flying boulders that all weighed 1.5 tons. Although it was pure strength, Jodye had just managed to release his new combat force, turning his aura into energy. Thus this natural power was the equivalent of 14.5 points of battle power, which was 2.5 more than his attacker who was using his origin energy to attack.
The masked follower made his move, chopping down with a knife hand covered in origin energy. Even staring at the knife hand as it came chopping down, Jodye no longer felt threatened. He stood in front of Sek Si, as he circulated the Titanic Rage Law in his left hand and countered with a left straight. Even though he had practiced this attack hundreds of times already, this time, he felt the hint of a different sort of power as he circulated the Titanic Rage Law's strength. This one punch contained all of Jodye Trill's astral might!
Fist of Might!
Right as the knife hand made contact with Jodye's skin, there was a 'clink' sound, like a brick being thrown against a brick wall. Jodye Trill barely felt the sting on his neck as his fist connected with the attacker's face.
Crack!
The attacking follower was blown away by the fist, and terrible cracking sounds were heard, as he collided with the second follower causing them both to slide for three meters, crashing into the cultivation platform.
The ugly muscle-headed goon was dumbfounded as he sidestepped and let the two followers fly past him. His eyes popped out, and his jaw hung as he stared at the spot they landed in.
"What.. the fuck...just a regular punch?" Said the ugly goon, his face solemn, "What the fuck is this brat? Could it be inborn divine might?"
The goon had initially wondered why the priest forced them to change plans once he found out the Lord's shadow brought a child here. However, he felt like he understood it for himself now. This kid was indeed a weed that needed to be pulled immediately!
"Boss Murphy, cough cough, boss Tony's dead!" Said the second follower in her feminine voice, climbing from under his companion corpse with difficulty. The one who had attacked Jodye, Tony, laid breathless with his jaw hanging loose and his neck twisted around twice. His eyes had the shock and disbelief from the moment his attack failed still painted on his face. He likely didn't even know how he died.
"Dead..." Boss Murphy was taken aback at first, before raging the next moment! Only, when he tried to release his aura nothing happened. He instantly felt his back become wet with sweat. Turning back to face the little monster with the mean left straight, Boss Murphy was terrified by what he saw, losing all strength in his legs. "Fr...Frankie..."
Standing in front of Jodye Trill and Sek Si was an otherworldly beauty, holding as still as thousand-year-old ice, wearing a sexy violet dress. She wore beautiful bracelets that shined in runic light on both of her wrists and ankles, with her feet bare. Her face inspired worship among men, but at the moment she had incomparably cold glacial eyes. She slowly sashayed three steps forward, her bearing elegant and graceful. Her eyes were glowing because of the golden lights swimming within.
The blue of her eyes in contrast with the gold lights was like a radiant blue moon, but looking at her eyes made Boss Murphy feel a stilling cold like he was a mortal man in the center of a blizzard for 10 days. He could feel his blood freezing slightly. Shock filled the muscle-headed goon
's heart, but he was too scared to move. At the front of the delicate and dainty feet of this celestial woman, was the severed head of a blonde hair and blue eyed man.
This decapitated head was frozen solid, with horror written all over his distorted face. Frankie was the strongest among their team, as he was a peak elite in the Void Door Realm, and he was the leader of this team. Yet, there was Frankie's frozen head, without his body. Dread now filled Boss Murphy's heart. He hadn't even heard any battle fluctuations.
"You slime dare to try and murder my heart? Tell me who sent you," Commanded lady Isis in an icy and overbearing tone. As she spoke purple mist slowly surround the room. Isis Trilleck sounded brutal like a murderer, her words full of ice blades. Jodye Trill was currently entranced by this version of his mother.
"Tch," Boss Murphy sucked his teeth and said nothing. With things having come to this point there was only one outcome. He would fight to the death! Thinking this, he bit his tongue and burned his blood essence, attacking without hesitation.
Raising his hand, his black aura swelled, leaving his body and condensing into an ancient looking black heavy sword. Grabbing the sword and leaping into the air, seven swords of light appeared behind Boss Murphy. He grunted and unleashed crimson energy through his sword. He and all seven of the swords behind him shot forward at the same time. He went all out with this attack!
"Heaven's Master Realm. A pity that such a hard-working saint elite would choose such a suicidal path. You are not righteous, and this seat must dispose of you," Isis Trilleck hadn't even looked at Boss Murphy since the beginning. She simply didn't put him or this attack in her eyes at all. Isis was staring directly at the remaining follower, who had literally pissed herself under the pressure of that gaze, "Allow me to ask you once more. Who has sent you?"
As the attack of Boss Murphy closed in on Lady Isis, she casually lifted her hand. Waving her hand, it looked as if purple-gold glitter was carried by a swift and pink mist and wind. It went straight towards Boss Murphy like a lightning bolt, yet seemed to be barely moving at all! Jodye was mysticized by such an event. What laws were these? Boss Murphy and his attack completely stopped two meters away from their target, unable to move in the slightest. It was like someone had paused them using time powers.
Boss Murphy was horrified, but he couldn't move an inch or make a sound. It was as if time itself had stopped for everything but his face, "This...I know this! This is the kiss of the frozen mist! Your the Saint of…hmf."
Slowly, purplish pink serenity ice emerged from within the pores of Boss Murphy's skin, covering him entirely in mere seconds. Lady Isis' released a black aura which escaped her body condensed into a purple-gold crystal sword. Isis snorted and sent the three-foot crystal blade flying like lightning through Boss Murphy's neck. Boss Murphy's body exploded in a mess of frozen guts ice shards, but his frozen head landed gently next to Frankie's, horror written all over their distorted faces.
The masked follower tried to swallow spit, her mouth dry. Removing her mask and revealing a cute and tender face, that was pale as a sheet, she babbled, "reporting to the Frozen Night Master, this one is a disciple of the Oblivion God Cult, commissioned to help senior operative White Demon. After admitting this, I will surely die, without a doubt. However, I do not wish to die like that."
Lady Isis' face darkened as soon as she heard 'Oblivion God Cult.' With a sway of her hand, the sword in the air descended and split the girl in half. Her body, along with the sword, then shattered like pink and purple glass. Jodye was genuinely speechless. His mother... was a Saint!? Was this the power of a Saint? He seemed to have vastly underestimated them.
Unfortunately, Jodye had not witnessed his mother using her Sage powers and combat soul previously, or his opinion of her would be even more profound. He presently couldn't distinguish when she was using which path outside of seeing her saint weapon.
"Come here, Joseph." Lady Isis' voice was gentle yet stern. Jodye found himself a bit nervous. Could he be in trouble? She only used his entire name when he was in trouble.
He stepped forward and bowed, "Mother."
"Do you know why those people tried to kill you?" asked Lady Isis. Jodye remained silent. Could there be a reason related to himself? He had thought they were merely enemies of the family.
"Answer me when I speak to you, Joseph." Lady Isis glanced at her son, her voice no longer gentle. Jodye looked up at his mother, knowing that his time acting like a child had officially come to an end.
"No, ma'am, please educate me!"
"When you cultivated earlier with that sage art your 'Grandpa Geb' gave you, all the origin energy in this wing was drawn into your cultivation platform. Your platform burned through the set restraints, the massive energy influx even helped Sek Si break past her subrank bottleneck, and her cultivation level will soon break into the next rank," Lady Isis spoke slow and deliberately. Jodye could tell by the way his mother said his grandpa Geb's name that she didn't like him one bit. However, now wasn't the time for him to comment on this. Lady Isis raised her sight and stared at the platform before continuing, "And you, you went from the Beginner Freshman Rank to Intermediate Freshman Rank in less than two days."
"Is that bad, ma?" asked Jodye sincerely.
Lady Isis sighed helplessly. She was momentarily speechless. How could she be upset with the child for what he didn't know? Was it his fault he was a genius? Should she beat him for being too openly outstanding? Of course, she couldn't, "It's not bad my Jodye...it's amazing. Far too amazing. We have...many enemies. Mighty enemies. Do you understand, baby? Some people want to hurt us, and bad. They will stop at nothing to do so..."
"I think I get it...but why mom?" asked Jodye Trill.
"This...isn't something you can know. You're safer that way," Sighed Isis Trilleck.
"Ma, they almost killed Sek Si! Who are they!? I want to know!" Shouted Jodye Trill, slightly affected by the remnant rage within himself.
Lady Isis was caught off guard by Jodye's sudden aggression, but then she remembered how Jodye had clobbered that Sophomore Rank thug with brute strength and she sobered up. Her baby had just killed a man to protect his friend and had never even thought of defending himself because he knew she was there. She thought to use this experience to scare some caution into this hard-headed brat. Yet, he was outstanding! He even killed one of the enemies for her. He didn't even seem to put it in his mind.
In reality, he hadn't. Trill Jodye was a man who had already killed hundreds, if not more.
However, totally unaware of this, lady Isis Trilleck couldn't help but be impressed and a bit fearful at this. That damn old wolf had made Sek Si kill a man earlier in the trip. The unfortunate thing threw up for two days. The two children's mentalities were worlds apart from each other. On top of that, the boy had the potential to become a master!
She had felt his perception touch her while she was still hiding from him, this definitely proved it.
Master was a title given only to those who could study Divine Law, or the ability to communicate with and produce law runes with spiritual force. The prerequisite for this: a powerful spiritual sense. This was a matter directly related to the soul, making it extremely rare. At any rate, this little boy was mysterious and tough. Much like herself as a child. He was also a fallen, identical to herself. Isis Trilleck could remember her father being in awe of her childhood displays in the same way she was shocked by her son. Thinking this, she smiled.
"Those people were spying on us. While we were aware of that, it didn't seem like they intended to take any action. They just wanted to monitor us. However, they finally managed to find this room. All of this, while the others are still away. I was originally unconcerned, as they were unlikely to reveal themselves. Plus, they are filth, and I did not wish to dirty my perception with them. However, by accidentally showing them how dazzling you are, they were probably forced to report it right away." Lady Isis paused, "they wouldn't have revealed themselves without being ordered to do so."
"Speak, my love, why not speak?" Said Lady Isis serenely.
"MOM. THAT. WAS. AWESOME! I want to do that! What was that sword? How did you freeze frame all those crazy sword lights, like waa.." Jodye Trill started re-enacting out the slaughter for his mother.
Lady Isis was tickled, but she did not show it, "Less of that, you will learn in time. The current you can't even condense energy, so these are things far above your knowledge. One step at a time, Joseph."
"It's Jodye, mom!" Said Jodye Trill exasperated as if it were a habit, "Mom is Sek okay? She was hurt. Can you heal her please?"
"Of course, my love." Lady Isis squatted down, and her hand released and radiant white glow. Jodye could see the color returning to Sek Si's face.
For some reason, Jodye had a feeling that his mother wouldn't have helped Sek Si without being asked to do so by him. She had shown below zero concern for her this entire time. It was to the point that she watched from above as Sek Si's ability was shattered brutally. This resulted in a massive backlash for Sek Si, and even with treatment to her body, she would need time to recover from her mental damage. Perhaps the kiss thing still had his mom pissed off? Jodye made a mental note that his mother could be petty and vindictive sometimes. Moreover, she seemed to be a lot more irritable than she was before his awakening.
He wondered why, and how to find out.
"Let's pack up little Joe. We're leaving ahead of schedule, this place is no longer safe," said Jodye's mother, Isis Trilleck. "Ke Si! Ke Si!!! Where is that damn butler and Elder Slaughter? They should have been here watching you!"
"..." Jodye Trill was speechless, unsure of how to respond.
