Is that a Wisp?
chapter-44

Recently, Krune had been feeling downcast, and it was like he got a new shadow behind him. It's just that this shadow had a face, a very cold one on top of that. Not to mention the fact that it had blue hair. This shadow followed him everywhere, and what made Krune even gloomier was the fact that when they were walking in the streets, this shadow-like person attracted the attention of everyone around him. Worst of all, he could see hatred in the eyes of people, especially the human males.

'My low-key life…after a few months without causing any problems, everyone had finally started to pay attention somewhere else and leave me alone. But then, out of nowhere, an attention magnet attaches itself to me! What have I done to deserve this? It's a curse! It must be! A curse directed to the wisp race!'

Krune wasn't the only one annoyed. Yusa was also fuming! She wanted to try out her skills in the Raskie Danger Zone, but in the end, they had to give up the mission. Fortunately, they hadn't applied for it at that moment.

Of course, Krune noticed that Yusa was angrier than she usually was. Although Krune was also annoyed, he could feel that she was a little different than him. With that, he thought to himself, 'I'm still lacking in human knowledge. I will do some research later.'

After that, he went back to his activities.

It was nighttime, and Krune was back at his small house. Through his communicator, he, Yusa, and Ao were discussing the actual situation. Yusa still seemed to be upset, but she talked anyway. She also went back to the Mercenary Guild to question Lu Ganan.

"So, supervisor Lu said that her mission is to protect you until the end of the Furiu Realm's exploration. But since we didn't enter, she has to protect you while outside. Her end term is the end of the Furiu Realm's exploration as well. Although Lu Ganan didn't say it, I believe that she's bound by a blood contract to keep protecting you until then."

Ao agreed with Yusa, telling Krune, "That's probably the only explanation possible. Since we didn't enter the Furiu Realm, she had no reason to stay here. As far as I can see, we have two choices. One, we wait for the Furiu Realm to close, and then she'll leave on her own accord. Or two, we offer her a blood contract and bring her with us."

Yusa then said in response, "I don't think she's the type to accept a blood contract that easily. It has more to do with her pride, like not coming down to our level or something like that."

In response, Krune told them, "Then, let's wait for now. We're not going to die just because we stayed here for one or two months anyway. We can cultivate slowly and use the arena to practice our skills with the concealing formation activated. It won't be as good as real combat, but it can help us polish our techniques before we leave next time."

Yusa and Ao nodded in agreement. They knew that Krune was a wisp, as well as the fact that he didn't have so much time to wait as they do. Then again, if even he decided to stay, they would accompany him.

"Besides, I can spend more time concocting pills, and I will be able to make a lot of spirit stones this time. Who knows, I might be able to get enough to create my eighth Spiritual Energy Meridian!" He laughed out loud as he said that.

Yusa, who wasn't very happy to start with, cursed him to the point where he became numb. She was just like a cat whose tail was stepped on. Ao had finished the call at some point, so Krune was the only one to suffer in the end. When everything was over, Krune couldn't help but sigh afterward. 'Something is definitely wrong with her. I better look into this now.'

Days passed, and Yusa was back to normal, much to Krune's relief. He had found out in the network that human women had certain days in the month where they often get more sentimental. It had to do with their body functions and reproductive system, and even female cultivators were no exception for that. He was planning to console her a bit, but in the end, she calmed again, so he had no need to point it out.

On the other hand, Shinja Avril was becoming angrier by the day. Of course, it had nothing to do with what Yusa went through. It was just that every now and then, she received news from people in the Furiu Realm. Some of them were even able to break through into the Core Formation Realm! Shinja might act cold all the time, but she also had feelings. At the moment, she was feeling like killing a certain wisp who imprisoned her here in this city.

Krune didn't notice, though. For him, she looked as cold as the first time they saw each other, so he kept his daily activities as if nothing had happened. Today, he was going to have some combat training in the arena. He was also going to have some combat practice with Yusa and Ao to see if there was anything wrong with their element control. Not to mention that he could test his own skills. Of course, they would select the concealing option of the arena. Fortunately, Shinja had no interest in their combat training, so she simply stayed outside waiting.

Krune went forward and told the two, "Alright, you two. Come at me together! With your control over the elements and cooperation, you should be strong enough to be my match while I'm in my human form. It will also help me find where to improve myself and you two. Also, I'm going to be serious here, so you better be prepared."

Yusa and Ao nodded in response as Yusa said with a bright smile, "My cute brother Krune doesn't need to worry. I have mastered the Myriad Water Dragons. You are the best target I could ever hope for."

For a second there, Krune felt that it might not have been a good idea to have it be two against one.

Of course, Ao was also fired up! "Yusa might have her Myriad Water Dragons, but I have a new skill as well. It's just that I don't have good control over this at the moment, so you better be careful. You probably saw this one in the Mercenary Guild's market, and it was quite expensive to buy the manual. Its name is Vacuum Blade. By slashing the wind around me with Sword Qi, I can create a vacuum which greatly improves my speed."

Krune then took a deep breath after hearing that before exclaiming, "Very well, let's do it!"

Ao and Yusa's coordination during the last few months had really soared! Yusa was capable of using the Myriad Water Dragons to cover Ao's attacks even though Ao didn't have a full grasp of Vacuum Blade yet. Not to mention that his Vacuum Blade also increased the speed of the Water Dragons. With their coordination, Krune had a hard time avoiding the attacks, and when it was him who attacked, neither Yusa nor Ao had too much difficulty dealing with it.

Yusa's water frame made his Blazing Wind Blades miss her. At the same time, Ao's Vacuum Blade eliminated the air around it. So when the Blazing Wind Blades entered its range, they lost a lot of their attack power due to not having oxygen burnt. Of course, those Blazing Wind Blades were created from Spiritual Energy, so it only lost the power from normal flames. The spiritual flames still burned nonetheless.

While that was happening, Shinja Avril could hear the explosions coming from the arena. Although she couldn't see it, she could more or less determine the power. With that, she muttered to herself, "The 6th Stage of Foundation Establishment. To think that I need to stay here looking at this level of a cultivator. What was the guild head even thinking when they decided to send Krune's group into the Furiu Realm? At this point, I might have already found an opportunity to break through into the Core Formation Realm."

She then decided to stop thinking about that before she lost her rationality. However, what she didn't know was that although Krune's group was taking training seriously, they were far from using their real power. They didn't want to cause serious injuries, so things like all-out combat could wait for when they left for the danger zones. What they were doing was just practicing their coordination, as well as checking what was wrong with their element manipulation.

Time soon passed, and when it was mid-day, they stopped for lunch. Yusa and Ao had been led into the wrong path, so now they also couldn't do without a good meal at specific times, just like Krune.

This time, he brought them to his house, where he cooked himself. Krune had become quite proficient with his cooking skills, as well. It might not have much use for cultivation, but it was one of the few things that made him happy. Not to mention that his food tasted really good!

Shinja, of course, would never accept a single grain of rice, so she just stayed outside. The simple fact that they would stop training just to eat made her even angrier instead. With that in mind, she could not help but mutter inwardly, 'What do they think training is meant for?'

Inside the house, Krune had activated the concealing formation so that their voices couldn't be heard. With that, they started to talk about what they noticed while they were training.

"Yusa's Myriad Water Dragons is really good. As long as her control over the water element reaches mine, she will be able to bring the full power of the technique, and the same can be said for her other skills. From what I could see, you just need to change the flow of Spiritual Energy. When your water dragons are moving, the Spiritual Energy inside them doesn't change according to their direction. If I'm not wrong, you had simply filled them with Spiritual Energy and controlled the direction, which forced the Spiritual Energy to follow. If you can make the Spiritual Energy change its course together with the skill, your technique will become faster and increase in power."

Yusa had a confused expression on her face after hearing that. She then asked Krune, "But how do I do that?"

Krune then gave his ideas, but he didn't tell her how he did it. Everyone had their own ways of doing things, so it was better for Yusa to find it herself. Krune was just helping her see that right path.

"As for Ao, your Vacuum Blade is very good. However, I believe that the reason you haven't mastered it yet is due to the way you control your Sword Qi." Hearing Krune's words, Ao was far more confused than Yusa was before, but he waited for Krune to continue.

"The Vacuum Blade is a Wind-type skill, and it uses your control over the Wind element to get rid of the air around you. However, the air is also part of the wind, after all. By eliminating everything, you're also limiting your control over the Wind element, or at least that's what I feel when I look at you. Today was the first time I saw the Vacuum Blade in action. However, I still believe that as a Wind element user, your power resides in the Wind element itself. By getting rid of all the air around you, you're basically cutting off your own leg."

Ao seemed to understand a bit what Krune meant by that afterward. With that, he asked, "Does that mean this skill isn't suitable for me?"

Krune shook his head as he replied, "Not necessarily. If I'm not wrong, the vacuum around you is formed due to the Wind Element Sword Qi, which can be shot from anywhere around your body, correct?"

Ao nodded in response. Actually, that was the prerequisite for Vacuum Blade. The user has to be able to use Sword Qi with a focus on the Wind element. There were several types of Sword Qi, and Ao Sulian was obviously using the one inclined towards the Wind element. Elemental Sword Qi always considered the user's understanding of the specific element plus their knowledge of the sword. It's not something easy to create, though. Thankfully, Ao was a sword maniac, so his perception of the sword was already very high even before he came to know Krune. As for the Wind element, with Krune by his side, it would be a joke if he didn't get to master it.

"This is just a guess, but when you use Sword Qi around your body to create the vacuum, you eliminate any contact with real wind. But what if you only start eliminating the wind, let's say, 10 centimeters away from your body? The wind that stays inside will be trapped by the Vacuum Blade. You can then use it to boost the power of all your abilities while maintaining the Vacuum Blade active to accelerate them. Of course, the air that stays inside will still somehow hinder your speed a little, but the gains should overcome the losses."

Ao's eyes were shining after hearing that! He had never thought about using Vacuum Blade like that. Of course, he also knew that it was bound to be very difficult. Krune then gave him a few ideas of how to practice to achieve that effect. Nevertheless, Krune reminded Ao that in the end, it was all just a guess. Only by seeing the final product could both of them know if it was worth a shot or not.

Days passed, and finally, a month went by. Unfortunately, the Furiu Realm was still open, much to Shinja's displeasure. Yes, she was jealous of the cultivators and demon beasts inside since the danger of the place didn't scare her.

Krune's group was still giving her the cold shoulder. Of course, that's mainly because of how Shinja acted every time she was with them. But that made her even more upset! Everywhere she went, people would idolize her. However, Krune's group seemed to think about her as air, and they simply ignored the fact that she existed. It even reached the point where it started to affect her emotional state.

One day, she finally couldn't take it anymore! Krune, Yusa, and Ao were outside the city gates making a…barbecue! The group's easy-going attitude was making her go crazy! She knew very well that Krune had a universe foundation, just like hers. However, instead of training hard, they would spend their time with things like that.

But that wasn't the worst part. What really bothered Shinja was that Krune's barbecue smelled too good! Even she was drooling because of it! For the first time, she had the thought of asking if she could get a piece. Shinja, of course, thought she was becoming stupid to think of something like that.

Unfortunately for Shinja, after an apocalyptic battle between her pride and her desires, her pride lost out in the end. Don't look down on Krune's culinary skills! He used the same spiritual fire that he used to concoct his pills as an alchemist, not to mention that he loved to cook good food too! It was so good that even this 'ice block' was losing to its appeal.

Shinja then gathered all the courage she had to say the next words, asking, "Can I get a piece as well?"

But to her surprise, Krune's group completely ignored her! In her mind, she wondered to herself, was she really that unwelcome? She finally couldn't take it anymore and then…she fell on her knees and cried.

When Krune, Yusa, and Ao saw that, they thought they were hallucinating. Is that really the famous ice block called Shinja Avril? How come she started to cry out of nowhere?

What they didn't know was that the world had a misconception about Shinja. She was, in the end, a girl! Everyone had only seen her talents and beauty, so she had never got along with anyone, nor did she ever join a team. Of course, she didn't like to keep her distance from the others. But in the end, no one wanted to know the real her. This led her true self to create a barrier that kept everyone away, a barrier to protect herself against others.

But ever since Shinja started following Krune's group, they didn't give a damn to her! Krune was one thing. He wasn't human, after all. Yusa could also be understandable since she was also a woman. However, even Ao, a human male through and through, had never spared even a glance at her.

Krune had little understanding about humans, so he sent a Divine Sense message to Ao and Yusa to ask, "Why is she crying?"

Ao then answered through Divine Sense as well, saying, "For a moment, I thought I heard her asking for a piece of the barbecue. But then I remembered who she was, so I thought I had heard wrong."

Yusa was surprised to hear those words come from them. "You two are as dumb as mules! Can't you see that she's still crying? Do you think it's the right time for discussion? We won't die if we give her a piece anyway, so give her some!"

Of course, as a woman, Yusa could see that there was much more behind those tears than a simple desire to eat barbecue. She couldn't imagine what could have happened to make Shinja break down like that, and even she felt some pity.

Krune, on the other hand, just nodded and cut a piece of their barbecue. But he was still confused. Was it really necessary to cry over a piece of meat? Sure, he was very confident in his cooking skills, but he didn't think that others would cry over it.

However, it was then that he felt like he was enlightened! It immediately got him excited! With that in mind, Krune crouched in front of her and presented the plate with a piece of his barbecue. He then put one of his hands on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry! I know what you are passing through."

Shinja looked at him with confusion. How could he know what she was feeling? Could it be because of their connection through the universe foundation?

Hearing Krune talk, Ao Sulian then turned away. He didn't know what Krune was going to say. Nevertheless, he was absolutely sure that it would be catastrophic!

"I read about it in the country's network. You're on your period, right?"

For some reason, he found himself flying away in the next instant. It seems like he had been kicked out of nowhere! He could only hear Yusa's shout in the distance.

"Just go and die!"