Chapter 159 Desperation

"Damn it! That bastard is dead!"

Ikasa exclaimed with frustration. His sneak attack had landed on a vital spot and claimed the unknown assailant's life.

He was caught in a pinch due to the man's words. Neither did he know his identity, nor did he know the truth behind his words.

He could not even see the man's face because everything in this place looked like giant blobs of energy!

"Was he speaking the truth? Do you really have hots for City Lord's sister?"

Feng Yan asked in a solemn tone.

"Not you too, old man! There is nothing going on between me and Path Finder Zhen!"

Ikasa exasperatedly denied the rumor. He quickly changed the subject to Xin Ruo and the Kids.

"Old Man, did you see Xin Ruo and the Kids? They must be lost in this place."

Ikasa asked with slight worry and urgency in his voice.

"I know where they are. Follow me."

The ochre-yellow human outline of Feng Yan began to walk. Ikasa quickly stepped up and kept pace with him.

Ikasa had studied about the interior of the Planar Rift in the past few days. Yet, his thorough studies did not prepare him for what lay inside. He could not help but marvel at the sights.

The myriad colored energies formed the landscapes. A shade of grayish red was prevalent in every landform. The skies looked dark with occasional twinkle of white and silver.

Sparse outlines of vibrant green shrubs contrasted with reddish brown ground. Large grayish splotches tinted with red were strewn across the land.

Feng Yan led him to one such grayish blob. Upon reaching closer, Ikasa realized they were actually giant rocks. These rocks had created a spacious hideout. The old man had hid Xin Ruo and the kids inside.

Ikasa breathed a sigh of relief seeing them safe. Though they definitely were not sound. The kids fumbled and stumbled without their sight or hearing.

Even Xin Ruo tripped and almost fell.

"Father!"

"Uncle Feng! Where are you?"

Their hoarse voices called out with panic. Ikasa ran towards the cave, unable to see their needless suffering.

Before he could go inside, Feng Yan grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from alerting the people inside of their arrival.

"Don't reveal yourself." Feng Yan whispered.

'Why?" Ikasa whispered back with annoyance.

"How do you think I learned to activate my Spiritual Vision and Spiritual Hearing in such a short time?"

His question made Ikasa's eyes widen.

Feng Yan was an Advanced stage Sense Trainer, a stage lower than himself. Yet, how was he able to activate his Spiritual Hearing and Spiritual vision at will?

Ikasa missed this small detail due to the fight earlier. He may not be able to see it, but he knew Feng Yan had a smug smile on his stubbled face.

"Are you saying this place is the reason?"

After a brief pause, he heard Feng Yan's answer.

"Yes. When I was dropped here, I was also helpless. Couldn't see, couldn't hear…. I couldn't even smell anything. I stumbled. Bumped into unknown people. Got kicked…."

"Old Man, get to the point. We have been in this place for less than ten minutes."

Ikasa interrupted Feng Yan's ramblings.

"Desperation is the key. The more desperate you become, the faster you can unleash your potential. And they have yet to reach the depths of desperation."

Feng Yan replied in a solemn voice. Ikasa looked at the kids, miserably crying out their names in the safe hideout. He could feel Feng Yan's impassive gaze on him, asking 'what will you do?'

Ikasa fell into thought. Feng Yan's words resonated with him. If dreams and desires were the goals, desperation was the fuel that drove him.  If he himself was rising above others out of desperation, did he have any right to shelter the kids and limit their growth?

He did not. Feng Yan was right. The Kids, no, the Teens needed to undergo trials now. They needed to shed their weakness and hone their will.

Ikasa had come to a decision. He would not interfere until they had activated their Spiritual Sense. Only one thing comforted his conscience.

'The kids are safe. Physically.'

Ikasa picked up Moony and went a bit further away. Feng Yan also took one last look at the children he had raised and walked to Ikasa's side.

"Do you think they will be okay?"

Ikasa asked, looking at the distant golden light. The golden light meant someone had uncovered the Prime Gold ore.

"Yes. I will stay by their side until they can activate their Spiritual Sense."

Feng Yan declared without a delay. Ikasa was heartened by his confidence. Still, he was not here on a training trip.

Ikasa had two main objectives for entering the rift.

First, he had to find the owners of the mysterious voices and get answers from them. Second, he needed to get his hands on Prime Gold ores.

Also, he wouldn't say no to some Energy Efficiency Stars, chipsets or other modules that can help upgrade his Printer.

In their current state, Xin Ruo and kids would be more of a hindrance than help. Neither he nor Feng Yan would be relieved if they were left behind, alone and without protection.

So, splitting seemed to be the best option. Ikasa accepted Feng Yan's choice and brought the strongest being, Moony, with him to search for the Prime Gold Ores.

—-------

"Run!"

"Which son of a dog provoked that beast?"

"Your entire family is made of dogs! Who knew there was a beast hiding near the ores?"

A group of Sense Trainers were running away from the spot where the golden light shone. This group had unearthed the Prime Gold ores hiding under ground.

The piercing light of the ores had attracted the attention of the Steel Guardian Beast nearby. Provoked, the giant beast as big as an elephant and shaped like a dire wolf chased after them.

"Aah! NOO!"

A tragic scream fell in the ears of frontrunners as one of them fell behind. The Steel wolf tore into his shoulder and separated his neck from his body.

Ikasa climbed on a distant rock just in time to watch the death of one of the Sense Trainers. He carefully observed the Beast.

Since it was quite large in size, Ikasa could see his features better. He saw three glowing red energy spots where his eyes and brain should be. Some parts of it were grey like metal energy and others shone with green energy.

'Is this beast perhaps a cyborg?'

Ikasa had another reason for this doubt. When the beast walked, he heard different noises from its footsteps.

When it moved its left limbs, he heard metal thunk against the ground. However, his right limbs made no sound.

"Mu Shi is here! He can definitely kill that beast."

Ikasa heard commotion from the group that had ruthlessly left behind their comrade to die. His eyes narrowed at the mention of Mu Shi.

His doubt about him being the attacker was now completely eliminated.

Ikasa turned his neck and looked at the radiant green spot of energy. It slowly moved towards the Beast.

Suddenly, he heard a loud thump.

At one moment, Mu Shi was leisurely walking up to the beast and in a blink of an eye, with the beast's head!

It happened so fast that Ikasa almost missed the attack. The beast roared with fury. Ikasa saw a steely gray limb being lifted and smashed at the green energy representing Mu Shi.

A loud thunk sounded and the limb landed on the ground. Mu Shi had dodged the blow.

The beast lunged forward to bite the human. Ikasa missed what happened but the red energy in the head was suddenly away from the green of the beast's body.

Despite that, the Steel Guardian Beast stood straight. Its steely front limb swatted at the green energy outline of Mu Shi. This time the green blob was hit and it flew a few feet away.

"Aah!"

Ikasa heard the collective gasps of the people rooting for Mu Shi. The green figure jumped back to its feet and challenged the Wolf once again.

Ikasa saw a thick thread of green energy wrap around the beast's neck and jerk it to the ground.

In the next moment, another red spot of energy was missing from the giant wolf's head.

"Awoooo!"

The wolf howled in a mechanical voice, surprising Ikasa. He didn't understand what happened down there but in the next moment, the green energy in the beast's body dimmed and entirely disappeared.

The Sense Trainers cheered at the death of the beast. Ikasa saw Mu Shi walk to the nearby golden lights. A second later, they disappeared.

'He must've put them in his Spatial Storage device.'

Ikasa muttered as he watched the victorious group walk away, leaving the corpse of the Steel Guardian Beast untouched.

When he was sure they had left, Ikasa stroked Moony's head and asked, "Should we see what a Steel Beast looks up close?"

And he went down the hill.