Chapter 69
The Chase
...
At times often like this one, warriors would be given the opportunity to sit among the spectators and observe the proceedings, but Bastian always chose otherwise. He couldn't care less who won what.
Even if a warrior capable of threatening him came, he was confident he would be able to handle him or her. He was more worried about other things. As he entered the warriors' quarters, he chose a bench and lay down on it to rest.
Only the warriors participating that day would be in those quarters. In the past, there were hundreds of them and some had the courage to attack Bastian. This was so due to the fact that, the Dwight and the York families had placed a bounty on his head.
Bastian had to deal with multiple attacks in the warriors quarters in the past few weeks but the results were always the same. All who attacked him died horrifying deaths, without question. Since it was always in self-defense and since such things occurred often amongst gladiators, Bastian would not be disqualified, rather he would become even more infamous.
Bastian laid down on the bench and closed his eyes, eventually falling asleep. To an amateur he was full of openings and many in the past had sought to take advantage of those openings. Yet a truly experienced warrior rcould tell that, in that seemingly vulnerable stance, there were no openings, just death, waiting for those who sought it.
After taking his nap, Bastian woke up and left the stadium slightly disappointed that no one had attacked him. At that time, only somewhat powerful and well experienced warriors were left, and they knew what Bastian was capable of.
Bastian had intentionally baited any fools who wanted to attack him, but to no avail. So after seeing that he had not caught any bait, he decided to go home. Warriors who were participating could leave anytime they wanted.
At one of the many exits Bastian walked out, a purple ball of mana twisting and churning in his open palm. Although none of the two star participants dared to attack him, outside the arena many Teachers were lying in wait. They had done that within the previous few weeks.
The two boys responsible for these attacks had little to no influence in their respective families, but Bastian had effectively spat on the faces of both their families, thus Teachers were sent to hunt Bastian down. The two families had many spies throughout the city, yet none could locate where Kenshin and Bastian stayed. The only time they knew his whereabouts was when they saw him leaving the stadium, just like at that particular moment.
There were hundreds of people crowded in the dusty streets around the entrances to the gargantuan stadium. These people were entering and leaving the stadium, giving Bastian lots of cover. It was a fact that Teachers were feared for a reason. Therefore, even for Bastian, that cover still was not enough.
So that day, Bastian did what he usually did. He activated his custom made pressure air spell Initiato, just as he was about to leave. No one dared to attack him inside the stadium due an unspoken rule, thus they could only attack when he was a certain distance away from the entrance.
Tens of Teachers created a net around Bastian and started encroaching around him, as they usually did, in a futile attempt to catch the boy. Yet the same thing, that had hindered them in their many previous attempts to catch Bastian in the past happened.
"Crescendo."
The moment the surrounding Teachers heard that phrase, their expressions became ugly to behold and they ran with all their might toward Bastian, but that was too late for them.
"Boom!"
A massive dust cloud formed around everyone, completely destroying any visibility the people had, well, except for Bastian. All he had to do was activate f-vision and e-vision and apply vector steps, and no one would have an idea which direction he had gone, by the time the Teachers managed to clear the cloud he was long gone.
Bastian chuckled as he heard his pursuers cursing as he left. Within a few breathes worth of time, he was already a few kilometers away, blended into a crowd at a street corner, that was at a completely different section of the city, in a different set of clothing.
With his hood on, he would move through the streets like a normal person, completely escaping the net that the Dwights and Yorks had placed for him.
Now to find Kenshin, he should be at the meeting spot by now.
If chasing Bastian was like chasing a legend, then chasing Kenshin was like chasing a myth. He was no different from air itself if he chose to hide. He did not even give his pursuers the chance to even see his shadow.
So Bastian had no doubt that his friend was already at the spot with his trade mark frown, and Bastian was right. The duo liked to meet in a tavern in one of the poorest districts within Yani City. It was run down, had poor service and smelled terrible, yet it was always crowded, exactly what they were looking for.
"You are late." said Kenshin as he was drinking water
"Well I was held back, seeing as some of us are still human. Speaking of which, how did your match go? Did you at least let your opponent leave the stadium in one piece?" teased Bastian.
"Irrelevant, why ask when you already know the answer to the question. I have a message from Kai; he wants us to meet with him at a certain location. Let us leave immediately." Kenshin stood up without even waiting for Bastian's response and walked out of the tavern, Bastian cursed underneath his breathe and followed suit.
How does he even communicate with that stuck up butler? He hadn't even told me yet.
To Kenshin, that was walking but Bastian knew that it wasn't that simple. Every time Kenshin took a step, Bastian would have to take three to make up for it. Bastian knew that Kenshin had input insights into this odd movement but that was the limit of what Bastian could do to mimic Kenshin.
As they were walking, Bastian noticed that they were headed toward the more financially stable areas of Yani City. There were few places like those. Places which did not bring about worries concerning one's survival at all. As Bastian was pondering on such matters, Kenshin suddenly scaled up a building, which caught Bastian off guard a little bit, but he was able to do the same.
In a city filled with cultivators such a sight although a bit unusual was seen every day, so barely anyone payed attention to it.
Bastian was wondering why Kenshin had them do that since the latter was aware that they were trying to avoid attention. The action he had just taken would definitely make it harder for them to do so. When Bastian climbed up the roof, he understood well what was happening.
A wave of hostile intent hit him like a tsunami. Kenshin had stopped in his tracks, he didn't need to say anything, since he knew what Bastian was capable of. He merely signaled for Bastian to sit down, which Bastian obliged to.
Bastian sat down and looked onward. He had a few regrets in his life because he always lived life to its fullest, or rather he attempted to. Yet, at that particular time, he did have something to regret about. His only regret was that, he had no popcorn to see the show that was about to unfold. Then Bastian realized a crucial fact and face-palmed.
I hate popcorn!
...
ZQX