As soon as he was noticed, Caelus shifted his body, turning to the side, and jumped. A beam of plasma flew towards where he was. If he were even half a second late, he’d have gotten hit by that.
Right then, erosion took place. The more they fought, the more they noticed their bodies growing weaker and needing to regenerate, meaning that while they were fighting, someone used a technique on them, though they couldn’t ponder it for long as they were being pushed back.
"How long do you think it’ll take them to notice or even figure out how to bypass it? Aphro."
[Not while in battle, most people here have average comprehension, maybe better comprehension for very few, being a single level higher.]
Caelus finally landed near the back, next to those of the resonant path. "Oh yeah... Comprehension is normal, I keep forgetting that."
"I didn’t think a Dragon would be keen on helping us." A voice from Caelus’s left, a man holding nothing, and his hands positioned in a clapping motion.
"Well, I caused the Yun Clan to get more pissed off because one of their kids kept following me." A sigh as his tail slammed into the ground, mirroring his annoyance.
"Interesting, well, I would ask more, but there is a battle going on, so it’s time to leave!" A smile on his face as one of the enemies swapped places with him, only for the sound of lightning as the same person threw a punch, sending them flying.
But, since they were so close to the Tianyun Empire. "...If their reinforcements don’t arrive, then wouldn’t one of the holy mothers finish this battle off? I guess it’ll continue somewhere else."
Swords stopped connecting as much, and the sound of explosions, deafening anyone who didn’t use Mana, Tellus jumped back as Minerva shot out a luminescent red orb, not plasma or anything like that, but it was made of Mana. "Oooh, Guess she really needed to finish that fight."
The battle, which had once raged, came to a grinding halt, the ground already covered in two inches of snow. "Wow, that’s a lot of snow."
Walking to Tellus, "...Shit, is this left or right? Wait, no, focus." Or left, he couldn’t tell. "So, you had fun fighting?"
"Very funny, Caelus, but I wouldn’t say I didn’t." A sidelong glance, her eyes barely turning to him, though still facing ahead.
"Well, this first battle is over though... It is pretty inconclusive. The Crimson Moon Empire will probably become desperate by the time of the Solace of the Frozen Hearth."
"...Uhm, what is that?"
"Oh yeah, you’re a Dragon, you don’t know the Festivals. Well, the Solace is in the Middle of Snowfall, halfway through the season, A period of reflection and prayer... Though most people I know, including Kiana, feast anyway." A soft chuckle. "Though it seems they’re retreating, they don’t wish to fight our Empire during the Winter."
"Cultivation slows after all, no wonder they would." The dwindling number of people fighting was evident; though this war would continue, it wasn’t their main concern. "The winters that bad that it stops wars?"
"Anyways, Caelus, this will begin the moment you’re at the first festival in the Empire..." Staring at Caelus for a moment, she shook her head, turning away. "Well, I’ll be busy for right now, especially since Princess Elysia almost got kidnapped. But I will be back before the Crystalfall Vigil."
Finally, Tellus had disappeared, to which Caelus went to find his way into the Empire, only now realizing... "...I know nothing about the Empire other than... Like stalls, some food, only a surface-level idea of the religion here, and I guess they’re more advanced in some... Very random things."
Staying on the battlefield, Caelus looked around. Under the snow, the blood that stained the black grass reached...
"At least a five-kilometer area, excessive, but if people can’t die, it’s expected." His language changed to Russian.
"Smells bad-" Pausing for a moment, Caelus gave himself time to think; no one here and no one going to be here for a bit.
Blinking obliviously. Three of his four brains spewed random thoughts he would genuinely think; the last one was thinking of something else he wanted to be a secret. A few minutes passed as Caelus stopped thinking as hard. "So if I learn to fight using my hands, then it’ll be easier in rifts, it is kinda annoying not being able to use mana there."
"Oh? Caelus, you’re still here? Thinking about something?" A voice from afar.
"Yeah, I am, well, it’s nothing important, it was just about what I eat and drink, that’s all... Though, why did you come out here, Minerva?"
"I was just checking back, though you’ll need to come back, the winter is intense."
"I will, just give me some time, maybe an hour, is that fine?"
"Yeah, you have at least five hours for yourself since you’re a dragon." Walking back to the Empire, she wasn’t moving too quickly, probably just to be normal.
"Ah... Wait, hm, I need to plan a lot more. I’ve just been doing what I thought was best... Though it’s been mostly chaotic."
"For Elysia, I’ll get her too Virtuoso and then stop then, as for Tellus and the rest, I’ll probably talk with them more."
Turning away, Caelus walked towards the Empire, inside a barrier constructed by the Holy Mothers. It felt a little weird, a ripple effect as he went through. Once inside, he took a closer look at the surrounding area while making sure his tail didn’t hit anything, keeping his expression neutral as well.
Noticing a few nobles walking by, he simply kept his distance, remembering those other nobles who moved away when he was in the upper district, except for Anastasia.
As soon as the nobles noticed his presence, being within 50 meters in his draconic aura, ready to move away... He was already further away than they expected. Even then, they moved away a bit more, though awkwardly.
He didn’t pay attention to them, at least because he was looking ahead. "I can trust Tellus... But I doubt I’d trust her enough to give her Supreme Foundation... Even if we had our first date."
Caelus paused for a moment, stopping in place, having barely gone through the upper district, still being far away from the Pavilions.
"I’ve used Burning Temptation way too much, I need to tone that down, I won’t use Horizon Step, especially for convenience, even if it brings thrill, I guess Rend, Rupture, and Erosion work, Equilibrium is always on anyway, so they’ll assume a Mana barrier probably."
He was expecting something else from the Yun Family; he doubted they’d give up, but not an assassination attempt, maybe something involving those close to him, or maybe involving his alchemy, since that was when he first fought them.
"Ah, Pill making, I have to work on that... Maybe after I start planning. For basically everything else."
Continuing forward, he stepped to the side, though it looked instinctive; Caelus was trying to improve his ability to predict and anticipate. Looking around, he’d seen where people normally walked compared to where cultivators walked, who gave less care to where they were walking or who someone was, unless they followed the Church too.
Seeing people at least three hundred meters away, though in a curved path since he was getting closer to the Pavilion, he expected them to be right where he had been walking previously, at least from the direction they were going. "...This is the bare minimum, though, but at least I’m trying, I would’ve thought too hard on it and bumped into them."
His mind was... Considerably empty, not needing to think on everything, nor wanting to, staying like this for forty minutes till he reached the Pavilion. "...Could’ve reached there faster, but I got more time to think while walking."
Walking inside, he looked down, seeing Elysia standing at the entrance of the History Pavilion.
Noticing his presence, Elysia turned, walking over, still smiling.
"Wow, she can keep her cool even after getting kidnapped." Looking a bit more intently. "Formal Attire?" Her dress blew in the wind, though it wasn’t too much nor too little, covering her entire body, and one he expected a princess to wear, but not the exaggerated version.
"Yup! I was talking with this other lady, one of the Holy Mothers; she seemed incredibly stern, though, but it felt like she cared, so I didn’t mind that." Almost frowning, she wasn’t sad, more a mix between it and annoyance.
"She probably cared, you know that people show it differently. Also, you wanna continue with training and learn to make your own techniques?"
"YES, I do!!" Her eyes lit up, the frown going away as she jumped in joy, literally.
"Alright, Calm, first, what do you even like to do? Other than Cultivation."
"Probably managing the economy, I’ve been trying to work out some problems right now with it, especially since the lower district is starting to inflate their prices to compete and... Some of the Upper District are getting rid of any people who compete."
Blinking once, He sighed. "Alright, first of all, don’t tell me that, second of all, that’ll need something more than just managing the economy in general, especially since you can’t just get rid of the people selling that, right?"
"Mhm."
"Well, why don’t you apply that to a technique, instead of going head-on with the problem, try and circumvent it, or even make sure it doesn’t happen in the first place. Or you could try to use how the world works as a technique."
Thinking for a moment, she concentrated her Mana into a bright blue coating her arms, changing their shape; they became cartoonish wolf mouths, but they worked because of how sharp they looked without coloring.
A single punch at the air, as, instead of any displacement in the air, the wall flew back, only to regenerate a second after. "Something like that?"
"Yeah, that works, though you could try refining it by making it cleaner. Also, never reveal your techniques out loud or explain them to opponents. I learned the hard way, since I’ve done that with almost every technique, and now Minerva, Tellus, and Sol know almost every technique." A soft chuckle as he looked at her.
"I see, well, I guess I won’t, though it might be a little hard for me since I don’t wanna lie to someone."
"You don’t need to lie, you can tell them that you wouldn’t explain it inside or outside a fight unless it was something anyone could learn." A pause as he looked at her. "Though, if you want to, you can say one technique does something else, while another technique does what the first one does, so you’re still telling the technique, but it’ll do something else."
"Now, as for cultivation, did you finish the foundation, Elysia?"
"Yup, I also got an even bigger Mana pool now!! Though I waste a lot on small stuff like teleporting and bathing."
"Hm, I see, alright, well, have you fought anyone yet? Like in an actual battle or a spar."
"Not really, I mean, I doubt anyone would fight me anyway, since they don’t wanna hurt me since I’m the princess, other than maybe a very tiny group of people."
"So well loved or just not idiots... Hmm, I should probably fight her just to give experience. Though the Church might be annoyed."
"Alright, well, would you like to spar with me? I mean, it’ll help you get better with actual fighting... Perhaps in two days, since I’ll be busy right now."
"Yeahh! It’ll be good to fight then. Pretty sure I’m free all day during that time!"
"Well, that’s settled. I’ll be at the Pavilion if you need anything." Turning away from Caelus in a moment, he reached the Pavilion for Cultivation. "I’ll just check for fighting techniques... And see what best fits me."