141 Welcome back (1/2)
Tentacles of hot golden rays pelted down onto the shattered earth of the barren lands.
Lines of deep cracks in the ground splintered and branched out in every direction, the crumbling top-layer of dirt formed a hexagonal mesh pattern spanning the length of the land.
The wind propelled multiple small columns of spiralling dust-tornadoes across the lifeless, featureless landscape.
Sending sprays of dust particles snaking through the atmosphere, giving everything a dreary outlook.
A single withered tree with its peeling bark managed to stand proudly in this harsh landscape, albeit sloping drastically to the left.
The parched tree measuring eight meters had lost all of its leaves, it stood alone on the horizon like a metaphor for survival in this extremely hot, harsh, and hostile environment.
Twenty meters away from the slouched leaf-less tree, the air shimmered around two faintly visible people as their hazy silhouettes gradually became solid.
Phew! Hartley exhaled as his feet hit the ground with a puff of dust, he staggered forward before regaining his balance.
Both Hartley and Zhi Ruo took a few seconds to recalibrate as they wobbled around on spaghetti legs.
Their moment of weakness passed quickly and the couple felt their strength return to its peak. Surpassing their former strength on the Aldoran continent by leaps and bounds.
They stood in place for a while and recomposed themselves, grateful to avoid the experience of another brutal acclimation period like their time in the pocket dimension..
Zhi Ruo huffed out a breath of relief towards the cloudless blue sky, releasing her tension and pent up emotions.
”We're back?” she uttered an unsure statement that sounded more like a question.
”Yes Ruo, we're finally back,” Hartley said with a smile while he hugged her closely, they both felt a sense of relief and achievement. From their current perspective, the dreary barren land has never looked so good.
The pocket dimension was a place of slaughter, one had to be combat ready at all times, it was a place without conscience or leisure.
Living outdoors and permanently being in the path of danger improved cultivation and fighting ability quickly, the side effect is that it tended to tighten one's nerves tremendously.
Everyone was always on edge, a moment of carelessness could have dire consequences. The pressure could eventually become your undoing.
It was great to be back on the continent.
For the first time in years the couple could look forward to the comforts of their manor and reuniting with friends and supporters.
Boom!
Their relief was short lived.
A presence of immense power was quickly moving their way, raising a storm of dust in its wake as it travelled through the barren land like a scud missile over the terrain.
”You rats really have some nerve, you even dare to return after desecrating the royal statue of the beast-man king and our sacred ground.”
A thunderous voice filled with malice arrived from the distance.
The air rippled and squirmed in front of the incoming dust trail.
Twinkling lights glinted under the harsh sun as someone approached on a cloud of shimmering green.
The person touched down onto the ground two hundred meters away and launched himself back into the sky immediately with another flash of green particles scattering behind.
Although it wasn't possible to fly with spell-weaving, a powerful spell-weaver with control of the wind element could launch themselves effortlessly over large distances.
A fraction of a second later the Rhino-faced beast-man clad in black scales, thumped down onto the ground like an earthquake.
His triangular interlocked scales that ran the length of his robust body, glistened, glinted and reflected the bright sunlight.
A blast of dust and stones erupted around his three meter frame with the impact of his landing.
He stood menacingly in the dusty swirls, a giant axe gripped in his hands and green wind elements dancing around him as he stood.
Poised and ready for action.
Growls of other eager beast-men were getting louder and louder as they hurried to catch up to the black scaled beast-man.
The beast-man stood before them was a gold tier spell-weaver.
They had encountered him on the night they scampered to crossed into the pocket dimension.
A gold tier spell-weaver was much more attuned to the elements, they could harness much more power from the dormant elements with little to no effort.
Hartley barely qualified as a silver tier spell-weaver, but had the advantage of mixing the two different cultivation systems.
He had learned the tiers of the spell-weavers and could now tell how powerful the beast-man was.
Zhi Ruo mouth twitched, her displeasure at the beast-man's grand and sudden entrance could not be concealed.
If this was ten days ago on the Aldoran continent when she'd met Drago for the first time, she would've surely cowered back in fear.
But now?
She glanced at the cloud of dust pluming behind the approaching reinforcements of beast-men and felt little to no fear.
”You annoying trash,” she screamed at the black scaled beast-man standing a few meters away.
”We came in peace and haven't killed a single beast-man, yet you are still acting this rampant before us. You better pray I don't lose my temper.” Zhi Ruo scowled through gritted teeth.
Growls of rage and discontent rose from the throat of the black scaled beast-man and a few who were arriving on the scene.
”Insolent!” The black scaled beast-man barked at the absurd human woman.
Adrenaline pumping, the black scaled beast-man made his move without hesitation.