Chapter 146
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Chapter 146
On a large battlefield with hundreds of eyes, it would seem impossible to stay hidden from all of them. Perhaps that might be the case if everything was specifically searching for someone hidden, but they were rather focused on everyone and everything else. Velvet found she was able to move around with little disruption.
There were some exceptions, of course. Velvet knew that any of the Essence Collection cultivators would be able to find her if she got close. Being hidden also didnt protect her from being hit on accident, with all of the charging animals and warriors around. Some of the most annoying dangers were simply the plantlife in the area- whether it passively or actively attacked her, it didnt look for her at all. It simply reacted to her touch. It would take a much higher level of stealth mastery than she currently had to fool the sense something had when it was physically moved about.
She wasnt just hiding, of course. She was picking the right targets. Unlike a normal battle, she couldnt just thoughtlessly attack enemies. Killing a lion wouldnt necessarily improve the position of her allies. Killing one of the warriors she was unsure about. Things had gone past the point of the three clans merely facing off against each other. Serious injury and death had begun. It was simply that picking the wrong opponents might ultimately weaken the position of the Temitope clan.
Though it was pretty easy to choose to deal with any cultivator directly in combat with the Temitope clan or any of the others with them. She concentrated her energy, slashing the thighs of two mercenary warriors facing off against the Temitope line. Before her attack, nobody sensed her. Afterwards, her two targets were unable to swiftly respond- and the senses of the others who might react were briefly distorted, at least until she could get somewhere else. The tall grass in the area really helped with her hiding, as long as it wasnt trying to strangle her.
With their new wounds, the two mercs retreated. Velvet might have been able to kill them- though perhaps not. Vitals were more strongly defended. Either way, she thought her method was good enough. Some people might deserve to die, but mercenaries she didnt know anything about in a conflict that wasnt fully obvious that there was a right side? It was unnecessary. Of course, making sure that they couldnt continue to fight was still required. If she allowed her own allies to be harmed by being too merciful, she would regret it. The mercs were smart enough to prioritize their lives when injured. Couldnt get paid or achieve any future goal if they were dead.
The grass twisted around Velvet. Her energy grasped gently near the top, preventing its sway. Those with keen eyes might still notice, though it could be taken for a flutter of wind. She kept moving, knowing that if someone got a solid look at her then all of her techniques wouldnt be enough. She wasnt actually invisible. Yet. Though at the higher levels of Everhearts technique, it got pretty close. According to what shed read, it was even better than that- because it covered more than just visual senses.
She scanned the battlefield. The battle with the overlord was certainly progressing. She could see meter long cuts on its side, though none of them were terribly deep yet. The small handful of Essence Collection cultivators and peak Spirit Building cultivators were likewise also showing some injuries and fatigue. Alva was somehow still fine. She and Fuzz seemed to be staying far enough away from enemies for the most part, and there werent any terribly accomplished archers singling her out. Velvet did notice a few arrows being intercepted by Antons shots, but those were rare and he didnt protect just Alva.
Rather than intercepting shots, he seemed to be most functional by providing credible threats that people had to avoid or be impaled. This prevented enemies from attacking or opened them up to opponents they were engaged with.
Hoyt, Ayotunde, and the sh- Ross- were facing off against some other cultivators. They seemed quite evenly matched, but the magnitude of attacks swirling around them made Velvet hesitate to attempt to join that fight. It wasnt possible to signal to her allies what she was going to do without potentially alerting enemies, so she would face danger approaching from any angle.
She saw a particularly annoying section of plants. There were western creepers, grasping grass, some of those particularly spiky trees and snakes lying in wait among all of that. She almost missed the latter.
Velvet moved along intentionally leaving a trail next to her as she picked her way through and around the area. Apparently western creeper wasnt too bad if you just restrained your energy, relying on tempered skin, but she really didnt want it poking holes in her pants or sleeves either. The best part about it was that it didnt move. Velvet snuck around behind one of the vipers, past the grasping grass which received a small sacrifice of her energy, and over a small crevice that had various unpleasant plants growing out of it.
She looked back towards the nearest group of enemies- cultivators from the Olayinka clan. They seemed to be edging towards the Temitope clan, so it would be best to divert them. With a few quick flicks of her wrist, Velvet threw a handful of throwing daggers. Regular steel, and quite disposable. Her energy was carried with them to increase their piercing power, but they barely even broke the skin of the Spirit Building man shed targeted. The two body temperers at his side grumpily pulled the daggers out of their shoulders. They should have been happy she wasnt using any poisons, but honestly that was a waste of good poison.
It was great. Elder Tshering slipped under a hippos open maw, unconcerned about it squashing him at its speed and weight. Because as he moved under its body, he stretched his arms out wide and grabbed its belly and sides. His energy had to extend even further to get a good grip, but he stood up and then tossed the creature towards the patriarch of the Olayinka clan.
The hippopotamus was barely even a magical beast with only the slightest traces of energy, but it did weigh close to two tonnes. The patriarch didnt hesitate to chop it in half with his large curved blade. What a waste. But at least it provided an opening for Afi to stab her spear into his shoulder. Of course, it was aimed for his heart- but Essence Collection cultivators wouldnt let themselves get killed so easily.
The peak Spirit Building cultivators backing up the Olayinka patriarch had already directed the creature towards the Temitope clans lines again, but Elder Tshering was on it immediately. He even had time for a short detour where he elbowed one of the two men in the ribs, bouncing off him and using the momentum to get back on course.
As he caught up to the boar overlord, its tail constantly swished, trying to stab him with barbed needles. Some of them were even shot like projectiles, but Elder Tshering had the thing all to himself. He landed on the boars rear and reached down, grabbing the base of the strange tail. He pulled, but found his plan wouldnt quite work. It didnt bend in such a way that he could hit the boar with its own spines, not unless it could fully break it- but that expenditure of power might as well go to a killing blow.
It did suit quite well to redirect the creature, however, driving it into a mostly empty area. It was also great for fending off the two Spirit Building cultivators who had to fend it off with their swords. When they attempted to move in together, a half dozen consecutive arrows slowed one of the cultivators. The battle had progressed far enough that Anton was free to focus on the main fight, it seemed. He didnt manage any significant injuries to the man, but he desynchronized the pair. That meant one arrived a few moments early.
That was just the right amount of time for Elder Tshering to perform an axe kick, sending the man into the ground. In response his sword slid down Elder Tsherings leg, but some quick twisting saved his manhood. He wasnt going to let his vitals be damaged so easily.
One man was half buried in the ground. The boar spun itself around. The patriarch of the Olayinka clan had broken away from matriarch Afi and was charging towards Elder Tshering with the remaining Spirit Building cultivator, and the boar charged him from behind.
As the overlord bent its head to impale Elder Tshering with its tusk, he jumped up to meet it. At the scale of the boar, the tusk itself was in no way sharp. The energy that radiated off of it certainly was, but Elder Tshering clamped his feet on the sides of the tusk. The giant creature only had the skill to form its energy into defenses or to extend its tusks, so from his position clamped on it merely sent him rocketing forward with it towards the others.
The Olayinka patriarch gathered energy, his curved blade ready to sweep up and chop Tshering in two. To throw off his timing, Tshering pushed forward off the boar. The blade slashed early, and Elder Tshering curled into a ball to keep his legs. His legs glanced off the patriarchs head as he tumbled over him, and he kicked the man towards the boar.
The creatures tusk was barely avoided by him, but Afis thrown spear was not- it pierced through his abdomen, impaling into the boars leg. The two Spirit Building cultivators were only just able to avoid the boar.
The Olayinka patriarch dove under the legs and came out without further injuries- but his side was spewing blood. We retreat! Come!
Elder Tshering had no way to know if they simply planned to regroup, but with others out of the way it would be more straightforward to take down the overlord. It was already battered and bruised from the combat, and more fatigued than either of the two remaining Essence Collection Cultivators. Most of the Temitope cultivators would have to stay at a distance, but they could pelt it with spears and keep away the other beasts, at least the ones that would support the boar overlord. All that remained was a little scrapping, a nice straightforward fight. Tshering punched his fist into his palm. This should be fun.
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Chapter 146
On a large battlefield with hundreds of eyes, it would seem impossible to stay hidden from all of them. Perhaps that might be the case if everything was specifically searching for someone hidden, but they were rather focused on everyone and everything else. Velvet found she was able to move around with little disruption.
There were some exceptions, of course. Velvet knew that any of the Essence Collection cultivators would be able to find her if she got close. Being hidden also didnt protect her from being hit on accident, with all of the charging animals and warriors around. Some of the most annoying dangers were simply the plantlife in the area- whether it passively or actively attacked her, it didnt look for her at all. It simply reacted to her touch. It would take a much higher level of stealth mastery than she currently had to fool the sense something had when it was physically moved about.
She wasnt just hiding, of course. She was picking the right targets. Unlike a normal battle, she couldnt just thoughtlessly attack enemies. Killing a lion wouldnt necessarily improve the position of her allies. Killing one of the warriors she was unsure about. Things had gone past the point of the three clans merely facing off against each other. Serious injury and death had begun. It was simply that picking the wrong opponents might ultimately weaken the position of the Temitope clan.
Though it was pretty easy to choose to deal with any cultivator directly in combat with the Temitope clan or any of the others with them. She concentrated her energy, slashing the thighs of two mercenary warriors facing off against the Temitope line. Before her attack, nobody sensed her. Afterwards, her two targets were unable to swiftly respond- and the senses of the others who might react were briefly distorted, at least until she could get somewhere else. The tall grass in the area really helped with her hiding, as long as it wasnt trying to strangle her.
With their new wounds, the two mercs retreated. Velvet might have been able to kill them- though perhaps not. Vitals were more strongly defended. Either way, she thought her method was good enough. Some people might deserve to die, but mercenaries she didnt know anything about in a conflict that wasnt fully obvious that there was a right side? It was unnecessary. Of course, making sure that they couldnt continue to fight was still required. If she allowed her own allies to be harmed by being too merciful, she would regret it. The mercs were smart enough to prioritize their lives when injured. Couldnt get paid or achieve any future goal if they were dead.
The grass twisted around Velvet. Her energy grasped gently near the top, preventing its sway. Those with keen eyes might still notice, though it could be taken for a flutter of wind. She kept moving, knowing that if someone got a solid look at her then all of her techniques wouldnt be enough. She wasnt actually invisible. Yet. Though at the higher levels of Everhearts technique, it got pretty close. According to what shed read, it was even better than that- because it covered more than just visual senses.
She scanned the battlefield. The battle with the overlord was certainly progressing. She could see meter long cuts on its side, though none of them were terribly deep yet. The small handful of Essence Collection cultivators and peak Spirit Building cultivators were likewise also showing some injuries and fatigue. Alva was somehow still fine. She and Fuzz seemed to be staying far enough away from enemies for the most part, and there werent any terribly accomplished archers singling her out. Velvet did notice a few arrows being intercepted by Antons shots, but those were rare and he didnt protect just Alva.
Rather than intercepting shots, he seemed to be most functional by providing credible threats that people had to avoid or be impaled. This prevented enemies from attacking or opened them up to opponents they were engaged with.
Hoyt, Ayotunde, and the sh- Ross- were facing off against some other cultivators. They seemed quite evenly matched, but the magnitude of attacks swirling around them made Velvet hesitate to attempt to join that fight. It wasnt possible to signal to her allies what she was going to do without potentially alerting enemies, so she would face danger approaching from any angle.
She saw a particularly annoying section of plants. There were western creepers, grasping grass, some of those particularly spiky trees and snakes lying in wait among all of that. She almost missed the latter.
Velvet moved along intentionally leaving a trail next to her as she picked her way through and around the area. Apparently western creeper wasnt too bad if you just restrained your energy, relying on tempered skin, but she really didnt want it poking holes in her pants or sleeves either. The best part about it was that it didnt move. Velvet snuck around behind one of the vipers, past the grasping grass which received a small sacrifice of her energy, and over a small crevice that had various unpleasant plants growing out of it.
She looked back towards the nearest group of enemies- cultivators from the Olayinka clan. They seemed to be edging towards the Temitope clan, so it would be best to divert them. With a few quick flicks of her wrist, Velvet threw a handful of throwing daggers. Regular steel, and quite disposable. Her energy was carried with them to increase their piercing power, but they barely even broke the skin of the Spirit Building man shed targeted. The two body temperers at his side grumpily pulled the daggers out of their shoulders. They should have been happy she wasnt using any poisons, but honestly that was a waste of good poison.
It was great. Elder Tshering slipped under a hippos open maw, unconcerned about it squashing him at its speed and weight. Because as he moved under its body, he stretched his arms out wide and grabbed its belly and sides. His energy had to extend even further to get a good grip, but he stood up and then tossed the creature towards the patriarch of the Olayinka clan.
The hippopotamus was barely even a magical beast with only the slightest traces of energy, but it did weigh close to two tonnes. The patriarch didnt hesitate to chop it in half with his large curved blade. What a waste. But at least it provided an opening for Afi to stab her spear into his shoulder. Of course, it was aimed for his heart- but Essence Collection cultivators wouldnt let themselves get killed so easily.
The peak Spirit Building cultivators backing up the Olayinka patriarch had already directed the creature towards the Temitope clans lines again, but Elder Tshering was on it immediately. He even had time for a short detour where he elbowed one of the two men in the ribs, bouncing off him and using the momentum to get back on course.
As he caught up to the boar overlord, its tail constantly swished, trying to stab him with barbed needles. Some of them were even shot like projectiles, but Elder Tshering had the thing all to himself. He landed on the boars rear and reached down, grabbing the base of the strange tail. He pulled, but found his plan wouldnt quite work. It didnt bend in such a way that he could hit the boar with its own spines, not unless it could fully break it- but that expenditure of power might as well go to a killing blow.
It did suit quite well to redirect the creature, however, driving it into a mostly empty area. It was also great for fending off the two Spirit Building cultivators who had to fend it off with their swords. When they attempted to move in together, a half dozen consecutive arrows slowed one of the cultivators. The battle had progressed far enough that Anton was free to focus on the main fight, it seemed. He didnt manage any significant injuries to the man, but he desynchronized the pair. That meant one arrived a few moments early.
That was just the right amount of time for Elder Tshering to perform an axe kick, sending the man into the ground. In response his sword slid down Elder Tsherings leg, but some quick twisting saved his manhood. He wasnt going to let his vitals be damaged so easily.
One man was half buried in the ground. The boar spun itself around. The patriarch of the Olayinka clan had broken away from matriarch Afi and was charging towards Elder Tshering with the remaining Spirit Building cultivator, and the boar charged him from behind.
As the overlord bent its head to impale Elder Tshering with its tusk, he jumped up to meet it. At the scale of the boar, the tusk itself was in no way sharp. The energy that radiated off of it certainly was, but Elder Tshering clamped his feet on the sides of the tusk. The giant creature only had the skill to form its energy into defenses or to extend its tusks, so from his position clamped on it merely sent him rocketing forward with it towards the others.
The Olayinka patriarch gathered energy, his curved blade ready to sweep up and chop Tshering in two. To throw off his timing, Tshering pushed forward off the boar. The blade slashed early, and Elder Tshering curled into a ball to keep his legs. His legs glanced off the patriarchs head as he tumbled over him, and he kicked the man towards the boar.
The creatures tusk was barely avoided by him, but Afis thrown spear was not- it pierced through his abdomen, impaling into the boars leg. The two Spirit Building cultivators were only just able to avoid the boar.
The Olayinka patriarch dove under the legs and came out without further injuries- but his side was spewing blood. We retreat! Come!
Elder Tshering had no way to know if they simply planned to regroup, but with others out of the way it would be more straightforward to take down the overlord. It was already battered and bruised from the combat, and more fatigued than either of the two remaining Essence Collection Cultivators. Most of the Temitope cultivators would have to stay at a distance, but they could pelt it with spears and keep away the other beasts, at least the ones that would support the boar overlord. All that remained was a little scrapping, a nice straightforward fight. Tshering punched his fist into his palm. This should be fun.
Chapter 146On a large battlefield with hundreds of eyes, it would seem impossible to stay hidden from all of them. Perhaps that might be the case if everything was specifically searching for someone hidden, but they were rather focused on everyone and everything else. Velvet found she was able to move around with little disruption.There were some exceptions, of course. Velvet knew that any of the Essence Collection cultivators would be able to find her if she got close. Being hidden also didnt protect her from being hit on accident, with all of the charging animals and warriors around. Some of the most annoying dangers were simply the plantlife in the area- whether it passively or actively attacked her, it didnt look for her at all. It simply reacted to her touch. It would take a much higher level of stealth mastery than she currently had to fool the sense something had when it was physically moved about. She wasnt just hiding, of course. She was picking the right targets. Unlike a normal battle, she couldnt just thoughtlessly attack enemies. Killing a lion wouldnt necessarily improve the position of her allies. Killing one of the warriors she was unsure about. Things had gone past the point of the three clans merely facing off against each other. Serious injury and death had begun. It was simply that picking the wrong opponents might ultimately weaken the position of the Temitope clan.Though it was pretty easy to choose to deal with any cultivator directly in combat with the Temitope clan or any of the others with them. She concentrated her energy, slashing the thighs of two mercenary warriors facing off against the Temitope line. Before her attack, nobody sensed her. Afterwards, her two targets were unable to swiftly respond- and the senses of the others who might react were briefly distorted, at least until she could get somewhere else. The tall grass in the area really helped with her hiding, as long as it wasnt trying to strangle her.With their new wounds, the two mercs retreated. Velvet might have been able to kill them- though perhaps not. Vitals were more strongly defended. Either way, she thought her method was good enough. Some people might deserve to die, but mercenaries she didnt know anything about in a conflict that wasnt fully obvious that there was a right side? It was unnecessary. Of course, making sure that they couldnt continue to fight was still required. If she allowed her own allies to be harmed by being too merciful, she would regret it. The mercs were smart enough to prioritize their lives when injured. Couldnt get paid or achieve any future goal if they were dead.The grass twisted around Velvet. Her energy grasped gently near the top, preventing its sway. Those with keen eyes might still notice, though it could be taken for a flutter of wind. She kept moving, knowing that if someone got a solid look at her then all of her techniques wouldnt be enough. She wasnt actually invisible. Yet. Though at the higher levels of Everhearts technique, it got pretty close. According to what shed read, it was even better than that- because it covered more than just visual senses.She scanned the battlefield. The battle with the overlord was certainly progressing. She could see meter long cuts on its side, though none of them were terribly deep yet. The small handful of Essence Collection cultivators and peak Spirit Building cultivators were likewise also showing some injuries and fatigue. Alva was somehow still fine. She and Fuzz seemed to be staying far enough away from enemies for the most part, and there werent any terribly accomplished archers singling her out. Velvet did notice a few arrows being intercepted by Antons shots, but those were rare and he didnt protect just Alva.Rather than intercepting shots, he seemed to be most functional by providing credible threats that people had to avoid or be impaled. This prevented enemies from attacking or opened them up to opponents they were engaged with. Hoyt, Ayotunde, and the sh- Ross- were facing off against some other cultivators. They seemed quite evenly matched, but the magnitude of attacks swirling around them made Velvet hesitate to attempt to join that fight. It wasnt possible to signal to her allies what she was going to do without potentially alerting enemies, so she would face danger approaching from any angle.She saw a particularly annoying section of plants. There were western creepers, grasping grass, some of those particularly spiky trees and snakes lying in wait among all of that. She almost missed the latter.Velvet moved along intentionally leaving a trail next to her as she picked her way through and around the area. Apparently western creeper wasnt too bad if you just restrained your energy, relying on tempered skin, but she really didnt want it poking holes in her pants or sleeves either. The best part about it was that it didnt move. Velvet snuck around behind one of the vipers, past the grasping grass which received a small sacrifice of her energy, and over a small crevice that had various unpleasant plants growing out of it.She looked back towards the nearest group of enemies- cultivators from the Olayinka clan. They seemed to be edging towards the Temitope clan, so it would be best to divert them. With a few quick flicks of her wrist, Velvet threw a handful of throwing daggers. Regular steel, and quite disposable. Her energy was carried with them to increase their piercing power, but they barely even broke the skin of the Spirit Building man shed targeted. The two body temperers at his side grumpily pulled the daggers out of their shoulders. They should have been happy she wasnt using any poisons, but honestly that was a waste of good poison.It was great. Elder Tshering slipped under a hippos open maw, unconcerned about it squashing him at its speed and weight. Because as he moved under its body, he stretched his arms out wide and grabbed its belly and sides. His energy had to extend even further to get a good grip, but he stood up and then tossed the creature towards the patriarch of the Olayinka clan.The hippopotamus was barely even a magical beast with only the slightest traces of energy, but it did weigh close to two tonnes. The patriarch didnt hesitate to chop it in half with his large curved blade. What a waste. But at least it provided an opening for Afi to stab her spear into his shoulder. Of course, it was aimed for his heart- but Essence Collection cultivators wouldnt let themselves get killed so easily. The peak Spirit Building cultivators backing up the Olayinka patriarch had already directed the creature towards the Temitope clans lines again, but Elder Tshering was on it immediately. He even had time for a short detour where he elbowed one of the two men in the ribs, bouncing off him and using the momentum to get back on course. As he caught up to the boar overlord, its tail constantly swished, trying to stab him with barbed needles. Some of them were even shot like projectiles, but Elder Tshering had the thing all to himself. He landed on the boars rear and reached down, grabbing the base of the strange tail. He pulled, but found his plan wouldnt quite work. It didnt bend in such a way that he could hit the boar with its own spines, not unless it could fully break it- but that expenditure of power might as well go to a killing blow.It did suit quite well to redirect the creature, however, driving it into a mostly empty area. It was also great for fending off the two Spirit Building cultivators who had to fend it off with their swords. When they attempted to move in together, a half dozen consecutive arrows slowed one of the cultivators. The battle had progressed far enough that Anton was free to focus on the main fight, it seemed. He didnt manage any significant injuries to the man, but he desynchronized the pair. That meant one arrived a few moments early.That was just the right amount of time for Elder Tshering to perform an axe kick, sending the man into the ground. In response his sword slid down Elder Tsherings leg, but some quick twisting saved his manhood. He wasnt going to let his vitals be damaged so easily.One man was half buried in the ground. The boar spun itself around. The patriarch of the Olayinka clan had broken away from matriarch Afi and was charging towards Elder Tshering with the remaining Spirit Building cultivator, and the boar charged him from behind.As the overlord bent its head to impale Elder Tshering with its tusk, he jumped up to meet it. At the scale of the boar, the tusk itself was in no way sharp. The energy that radiated off of it certainly was, but Elder Tshering clamped his feet on the sides of the tusk. The giant creature only had the skill to form its energy into defenses or to extend its tusks, so from his position clamped on it merely sent him rocketing forward with it towards the others.The Olayinka patriarch gathered energy, his curved blade ready to sweep up and chop Tshering in two. To throw off his timing, Tshering pushed forward off the boar. The blade slashed early, and Elder Tshering curled into a ball to keep his legs. His legs glanced off the patriarchs head as he tumbled over him, and he kicked the man towards the boar. The creatures tusk was barely avoided by him, but Afis thrown spear was not- it pierced through his abdomen, impaling into the boars leg. The two Spirit Building cultivators were only just able to avoid the boar. The Olayinka patriarch dove under the legs and came out without further injuries- but his side was spewing blood. We retreat! Come!Elder Tshering had no way to know if they simply planned to regroup, but with others out of the way it would be more straightforward to take down the overlord. It was already battered and bruised from the combat, and more fatigued than either of the two remaining Essence Collection Cultivators. Most of the Temitope cultivators would have to stay at a distance, but they could pelt it with spears and keep away the other beasts, at least the ones that would support the boar overlord. All that remained was a little scrapping, a nice straightforward fight. Tshering punched his fist into his palm. This should be fun.
