Chương 44: Red Rabbit

TARION Greystone manor Bedroom A fool shook me awake from my incredible sleep.

"Your Grace, humanoid curses are spotted across the city!" A wise servant shouted. I jumped out of bed and hit the ceiling, almost hitting my forehead. I flipped back down, surprised at my new strength. I was still getting used to the freedom of painless mana usage. My body was a spring that could fly anywhere at a single squeeze. A short minute in the bath and I am dressed. My Umbra gathered at my office. A light shone on a large map of the city. We already got the locations – simply who to send and where.

"Send me to Mouve, Nephew." My uncle appeared to be a lot better.

"Okay... But be careful."

"Alright, sonny, I won't get betrayed again," and Loran stepped out of the office with confidence. I searched, and my favourite maid was missing.

"Find Beatrice," I ordered. And a servant did as asked.

"Susan to Misttide," she saluted, disappearing in a step. I will go to Heath. Send a pigeon to the barracks with my instructions.

"I handed a paper to another servant, and he left. Bending down at a map, my locket bounced inside my shirt. Vanessa... I haven't seen her. I need to. A maid burst through into my office.

"The duchess!" She showed a tracking device.

"FIND HER ITINERARY!" I shouted, and the office became a frenzy. A servant searched and gave it to me. I flipped it to today's appointments. I placed all the points I had into intelligence. I looked for the pattern others would overlook. Cursed sightings were concentrated to the east of the city. I look at the time. Two sites should have been inspected by 11 am. The 8am and 9: 30am appointments. Curses starting appearing at 10: 45. So that left one place.

"Bring weapons, cloak yourselves. WE MOVE. TO NORTH DESAW!" The voices of my people made the room rumble.

"YES, YOUR GRACE!" VANESSA Dairy log. As the world shifted, I forced myself off Veil. Multiple perfumes stung my nose as a familiar smell lingered in my nose and thoughts. I looked around frantically. A library of books and staircases twisted and turned around. It was large yet compact. As if it folded on to itself. Veil froze in the same position I pushed him into. His face was unreadable.

"Veil, I am sorry. It was just a surprise to me, tis all. I have never been teleported before..." I still searched around for a door. My old friend straightened. Relief flooded his pale face.

"Oh, I see! Umm... I'm just so used to it that I forgot how a novice would feel. My bad!" With a hand wave and whispers, teacups float to him and me. A chair tumbled until it nearly tripped me.

"Please sit," Veil said, sipping something.

"I would prefer to stand." No exit was found; I kept wondering if there were even windows.

"I need to go—""Go?" His tea clanked on his coaster, and it floated away.

"Go where?"

"My people! Attackers surround them...!"

"Your... people..." Veil wandered around on his carpet, chuckling at a joke I didn't hear.

"What will you do? Barely second circle. Like a bambi in the battle, you will be slaughtered."

"I know... But..." I hung my head. I understood his thought, but how could I let them die without fighting myself?

"Don't think too much for your little head; I make sure you will be safe here always, as the genius of the mage tower – VIEL – has become your protector!"

"I see..." I hugged myself, feeling an unnatural chill. I still searched for the way out.

"How long will I need to be here till the bandits leave?" Veil smiled with his unnerving facade, which he called a face.

"Until you are safe." This was not the boy I ran around with or played toys with. What happened to him? My heart calmed as my mind worked. I walked around the 'room'.

'Impressed?' Veil asked as he came closer. He grabbed a book over me.

"Look! One of your favourites."

"The red bunny..." I took the book from his hands, and he drew closer again.

"I remembered you love it so much you remember it by heart!" Memories of us playing in the secret woods of Hamber graced my mind. I held down a well of emotion. Such days are gone forever.

"We related to the red bunny in a way normal people couldn't understand. The red bunny with hair brighter than the sun. Ostracised from his clan of white-hair rabbits. They kicked him out. In the snow, he could not hide. Predators seek him like a free meal. But what he does have that the other rabbits don't."

"Courage," I said.

"Strength!" Veil exclaimed.

"THE POWER TO CHANGE YOUR DESTINY. Nothing else matters..." Veil grabbed me by the shoulders.

"We are the Red Rabbits. Too special to be stuck, to be contained, to be controlled." Veil's grip began to hurt.

"I can take you away from the dump of a city and put you on your rightful seat. Above all, as you should be!"

"Veil..." My mind was spinning, trying to comprehend what Veil was talking about until a shocked smile slowly grew on his face.

"He hasn't told you yet...." The whole room shook with a mage who laughed with his mouth to the ceiling.

"AHAHAH! That explains it all!"

"Explains what? What are you talking about, Veil?!" The room calmed.

"Every day they lie to you right in your face! Bleaching you white when your red should be seen by all!"" George!" His merry mood fell.

"Veil... Explain." He finally let me go. I kept my circles still.

"Felt targeted? Assaulted? The blizzard, Mouve? Today?" I enjoyed a faint feeling of relief that I wasn't going mad.

"You feel it; you have always felt it. That you were special." I stay silent, refraining from denying the truth.

"Humble as you are, you have underestimated how special you are." He glared at me with hunger in his eyes.

"You are not just a red rabbit. You are the reddest of them all~! You, my darling, are the Saint brought down to our world by the gods themselves!" TARION NORTH DESAW I feel so good. I am unchained. I let my greatsword fall and kicked it with Qi before it touched the ground. My greatsword, flying at supersonic speed, pierced four mangy men. Their organs and ribs were sprayed on their friends. I yanked back my blade back through their chests and a line of mana brought my blade back.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Plonk Second circle!? Since when? And Platinum, forty points, tempered body? What the fuck is going on!? My fixed points had grown immensely. It would appear that the set points were the composition of my physique that I augmented unknowingly through training and mobile meditation. Now that I had reached the Tempered Body stage with a healthy body, it felt like my true stats were revealed.

Strength and body increased almost 50 per cent; my Basin is the largest stat of all. And by getting better at cultivation, I can increase them. Not bad. Not bad at all.

"They disappeared again." Drac hit the ground in anger.

"They are aware. They have skill, this mage. I need something. Something once used by the duchess." I remembered the locket. I pulled it out, and the rune maker smiled.

"Good, that may work." He took it from me; I almost forgot to let it go.

"Wow, you really like her. Haha." Drac opened the locket. writing runes around the now floating object.

"Lucky man, be glad she reciprocated; a lock of her hair hidden within will save her. He can't block me now." I cut down a bandit ambushing my scout while Drac closed his eyes to focus. I shifted my body to the right and swiped upward to fire off a blue mana slice, cutting through two bandits. I looked closely at my status. My mana blade became a soft white haze, and I deflected three strikes and responded with a stab to the stomach. I grinned from ear to ear as my smoke-coated blade smashed a head into chunks.

Wiggling my blade free, it tried a slash with Qi. An arch of white flew out and hit a bandit across the body, giving them a mark on their armour. Interesting. Without my mana circles, the speed and output are decreased. It is like my circles are the engine, while my lower Dantian is my fuel source. But with purer energy, make its ease of use paramount. I put up my left and guarded with Qi. My skin turned tough, stopping the blade from cutting further into the bone. So sick.

I clenched my fist, and the blade bounced on my forearm. A corpse fell from my slash as I studied my arm. Mana for attacking and long-range, Qi for defence and short-range. The applications…

"Would you like to learn?" My eyes snapped upward. A very old woman, dressed in Liuen traditional clothes, stood in front of me. With her arms behind her back, a cheeky smile crossed her slightly younger face. Dark eyes twinkled.

"How?" I slashed to my right, killing a man out of my sight.

"No, why are you here?"

"Mmm…" An axe from behind Zhi missed her, and the air popped from her back as the bandit flew back into the crowd.

"I wanted to know how you were faring." A third-circle bandit rushed at her with his blade shining. My mouth moved to warn her, and she shook her head. Steel pinged off Zhi, and the bandit fell back in confusion as his blade broke into shards. A Raven finished the bandit off while my mind was full of questions. I saw Zhi's skin shimmer like gold.

"IS that really all? I mean, there are cursed humans running about!" I exaggerated.

"I killed them already." On wooden sandals, the five-foot-something woman strolled on the blood-sprayed ground before stopping close. Keep your qi close. It is not something you waste like your frivolous mana." I did as she instructed, controlling my qi amount around my body.

"With mana, more violent power meant more protection, more strength. Qi is slow but malleable. Umm..." Zhi watched me like a piece of meat to be served. I bent under an arrow.

"What!" A thrust from below killed a second circle.

"You have talent for qi. More than anyone I have ever seen in the country." I thrust over the old woman. A cone of my mana twisted into men. From thrust, I pulled my great sword to the right to fling mana at five. She redirected my blade into a bandit's temple and then, with a wrist strike, hit my sword arm up. I saw a leaping enemy and shot him with concentrated qi.

"Good. You're not young, but it's not too late to teach the basics of my martial arts." My heart beat loudly with joy as my blade murdered. I stabbed behind me, and a burst of energy killed two.

"Come on." A weapon broke off her back, and she grinned.

"You won't let an opportunity to get stronger vanish, would you?" I thought about it for a second.

"Teach my people."

"Only those with the talent," Zhi acquiesced.

"Taking the rejuvenation pill is a risk. Many fail and end up disabled for months. Although what matters is talent in the end, my knowledge is not for the public to use. My focus is on you only." Thank the lands above I diluted that shit.

"And I will hire you as the Greystone Castle Doctor."

"More work!?" Zhi spun from an attack, her right leg tripped a bandit over, and a kick snapped a neck.

"Pay better be good." I grabbed a hammer before it smashed my face. Qi crumpled it and threw the mound of iron back into the second circle's face.

"It will be competitive, and with you close to me, Liutown will finally have a representative to speak on their behalf." An attacker's blade seemed to phase through Zhi as a flickering punch launched the bandit metre into the air.

"That is a good deal."

"Then it is agreed." I offered an open hand.

"Agreed, what?" Zhi Said waited for me to complete a sentence.

"Then it is agreed, Master Zhi." As bloody battles persisted around me, I bowed. My arms were by my side in deference to my new teacher, my saviour. I stood straight, avoiding decapitation the French way, and I cut up, splitting a face in half. Heightened senses heard heavy footsteps of armour-clad warriors, and I put my guard down.

"I will ask again. Why try so hard to save me, to teach me?" Master Zhi looked to the left, remembering.

"Let's just say, I admire your type of justice. A man like you is what Liutown needs. A noble who fights with his men. Dirties his own hands. A man like you will bring forth change the world needs." With one last smile, the master turned around.

"Oh yeah, one question. When did you learn FEI JIAN?"

"FEI JIAN?" The flying sword?

"Just now. Saw you do it." Laughing with round cheeks, Zhi's fist snapped into an attacker's face. Strange lady. Master, huh… I have had only one coach. And as a father, a trainer and a man, he absolutely sucked. VANESSA SOMEWHERE? Diary log I leaned on the bookcase. I inhaled and exhaled slowly. slowing my heart. My mind kept thinking.

"Is that you why you waited until the very end to sweep me off my feet?"

"Huh, well..." His eyes darted around.

"You have known I was a target, yet you stayed away while my guard and brother-in-law were attacked by a mess of terrible men?"

"I am stuck between..." He measured the air with his hands.

"Obilgations. I mean to escape them. Escape it all!" He grabbed my hands.

"With you." A circle ran in my heart, and I whipped the man's hands away.

"Take me back."

"You misunderstand... I have always kept you safe. Me alone! I have been your silent guardian, aiding you when you were in trouble. Not the feckless brute you call your husband who kept you in the dark."" Take me back." But my word fell on deaf ears. Two circles spun fast as I collected more mana.

"THEY DON'T KNOW THE REAL YOU! THE GIRL BEHIND THE POWER AND STATUS. HE KEEPS YOU FROM THE TRUTH TO KEEP YOU TO HIMSELF." Veil stood over me, heaving and huffing. I wiped off the spit from my face and shoved him back. I put the red bunny book back on the shelf. I spoke calmly.

"And you tell me the truth to do the same?"

"Well, of course I am the only one who loves Venessa, the prostitute's daughter." I felt mana coursing through.

"What about Vanessa the mayor?" Veil kissed his teeth.

"No need to play pretend politics anymore. You with higher levels. So high, only the gods are unreachable. And even that isn't impossible." My disappointment was immeasurable. Mana collected in my palm.

"What Vanessa... What are you doing? VANESSA!" I pointed my palm at my old friend.

"Take me BACK!" Veil's shoulders slumped like his frown. I could see a single tear glistening. A few months ago I would have cared.

"Please... I want you to choose to come with me." I shot to the left of Veil's head, and as fire grew on his books, I collected more mana.

"I won't repeat myself."

"Fine, FINE, FINE!" Veil waved the air, speaking a weird tongue, and the room shook.

"IF I CAN'T TAKE YOU WITH ME WILLINGLY, I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT LIFE WITHOUT MY PROTECTION IS LIKE. A click of a finger and we are in a room chiselled out of underground rock.

"Wait there for your liar," he spat his words like venom as chains flew to my legs.

"He will be sure to follow the bait."

"I told you she would disagree." In the room, an accent of the northern like, spoke low and confident.

"FUCK YOU!!" Another click and the silver-haired mage vanishing with weeping eyes.

"Hey... Long time. A shaved man peeled an apple. d. Goosebumps rose at the sight of the man that plagued my dreams."

"HAHAHA!" a large man bellowed.

"Leave before make the poor girl piss herself!" The fifth circle stood, leaving that strange smell again." I ain't that ugly." As he exited a door, a behemoth entered the room.

"First time we met face to face. Wow... Only the highest-paying clientele for you, my dear. Or by my side. Hard decision. Possibly the one that Veil won't hear of! HAHAHAH!" He offered a very large hand.

"Fjord the horn. An honour to meet you." TARION DURING BATTLE NORTH DESAW"TARION! I found her!" Drac shouted in the chaos of a hundred mad men clamouring for their death.

"Go, student." Zhi's kick tore through a bloody human being.

"Your wife needs you. I will take care of this." She sped off, leaving dust behind; her shadow danced across the battlefield, and bodies flew into walls mangled. I pat my friend on the shoulder.

"Where?"

"Black Shade..." Drac looked unusually worried.

"It's a trap. Definitely a trap."

"Good", I hailed Beatrice. and she dropped to a knee.

"Bring me Gamma. Today we invade Black Shade."