150 Tension (1/2)
The ice dragon was like a wood chipper as the ice giants kept charging towards it. Chunks of ice shot everywhere, mixing with the hail falling from the skies. To Ed's delight, the ice giants didn't heal when killed with the blue water path, likely because it wasn't considered cheating.
'No wonder Tai likes creating flame dragons so much.' Ed admired his work. The ice dragon wasn't nearly as detailed as the ones Tai liked to make, but it was equally intimidating.
As the ice giants continued to fall, Ed began moving forward. The ice covering his body supported the severed tendon in his left ankle, allowing him to walk. Ice sprouted underneath his feet with each step he took, creating a staircase into the sky. He manipulated the ice dragon to guard him as he went. Soon, he towered over all the ice giants, looking down on them like a king looking at his subjects. The previous stairs he created were destroyed by the ice giants while his remaining stair grew, transforming into a thick ice pillar.
”Tsk.” He clicked his tongue as he watched. Truthfully, he wished to let go of everything and release his rage upon the ice giants. But his body was a complete mess and describing it as useless might be giving it too much credit. 'I'll save my rage for after I escape.' He decided as he sat down. His breathing was slow and steady, but each breath was deep and exhausting. His vision was blurry, and there was a constant ringing in his ear. 'Have to stay awake!' His remaining eye turned red as he glared at the ice giants and continued to control the ice dragon to destroy them. 'If I fall asleep again, who knows what bastard might take over my body.'
Two days passed, and the grind against the ice giants never seemed to end. He was easily killing one ice giant per second, but even that felt slow against their massive numbers. To kill a million would take him almost two weeks of constant slaughter. Fortunately, the ice giants' remains fused into the ice whenever slain, allowing the next wave to come forth without Ed being forced to move. It was a difficult balance, as he had to keep his mana output at a level where he could recover whatever amount he was using. By now, he had even recovered all of his purple mana.
”If only I could have created a pillar like this last time.” He sighed aloud. The pillar allowed him to rest and recover his mana easily while fighting. In his previous fights, the onslaught of ice giants in direct combat didn't give him the slightest chance.
Soon, an entire two weeks had passed. Ed's face was still pale, as was his entire body. However, he had recovered quite a bit. Neither of his arms had managed to grow back, nor had his eye or burst heart. But the many gashes and wounds covering his body had healed naturally due to his chimera flesh, including the severed tendon in his ankle. 'I should really look into finding a strong mutant and increasing the mutant flesh ratio again.' He thought when remembering his days in the cage. When he was more mutant than human, he had even been able to regrow limbs with relative ease.
By now, there was only a single ice giant remaining. Ed transformed the top of ice pillar into a wave of water and rode down the pillar as if he was descending a tall spiral staircase. Upon reaching the bottom, the last ice giant was torn to shreds by the ice dragon. Then, the ice dragon and ice pillar both turned to water, fusing with the ice. ”Finally.” He grinned as he waited for the exit to appear. 'Once I get out and heal my body, I'll figure out a way to deal with Sect Leader Fang. He's on President Walker's level, so I doubt I can beat him one-on-one, but that kind of thing has never stopped me before.
After waiting for nearly a minute, a new ice giant formed from the ice. It looked just like the others, having no special qualities of any sort. ”Leave.” It ordered.
Ed's eyes widened in surprise. 'Fuck, Sect Leader Fang wouldn't be so shameless as to leave me in here after legitimately winning, would he?' He glared at the ice giant. ”Why? I won with the correct path. I played by the rules.”
”You. Cheated. In. Beginning.” The ice giant replied. ”Four. Day. Penalty. Until. Try. Again.”
Ed's eyebrow twitched. In a moment of anger, he shot several spikes of ice forth. They stabbed directly into the ice giant's head, slaying it instantly.
A minute later, a new ice giant spawned. Unlike the past occasions he had slain a single ice giant, no extra ice giants appeared. ”Leave. Four. Day. Penalty.” It started to give the same speech again.
”For fucks sake!” He complained as he sent more ice spikes ahead, killing the giant. Bored and with nothing better to do, this became his new game to keep entertained for the next four days. By now, he had stayed up for weeks without sleep. Even for a strong esper, it was an exhausting feat. Especially when considering his injuries. He needed any distraction he could get to keep himself awake.
Four days later. There were only a few minutes remaining until the time reset and he could finally leave. He had spent over a month in this hellish place without food and with very little sleep. He was eager to feel the sunshine once again. Just as he was counting down the final seconds, he heard footsteps behind him. Glancing back, he spotted the two cultivators that had helped him previously.
”Elder.” They both bowed respectfully. Last time, they had been fairly rude, but they also hadn't realized he was an honorary elder at the time.
”Hey.” Ed greeted them back. ”I'll be leaving soon.” He shot another ice spike forward, killing the latest ice giant to spawn.
The girl fidgeted nervously when looking at Ed's missing arms and missing eye. One could only imagine how she'd react if she had seen him just a couple weeks earlier when he didn't even look human.
The boy noticed the girls discomfort and spoke up. ”Elder, I saw the hordes of ice giants over here during the past two weeks. Do you know what happened?”
”Extra ice giants spawn if you cheat apparently.” He replied. Another ice giant spawned, and he hurriedly killed it.
”And where did all the ice giants go?” The boy questioned in confusion.
”Dead.” He answered. Just at that moment, an exit appeared out of nowhere. A rectangular portal revealed the plaza within the grassy mountain-like region that was just outside. It seemed the last ice giant had finally counted as the reset. He didn't hesitate as he stepped through the gate, and it instantly closed behind him.
The two cultivators stared in disbelief for a moment before turning to each other. ”Do you think he was telling the truth?” She questioned.
”No way.” The boy shook his head. ”The Sect Leader must have intervened or something.”
...
Ed stepped out of the portal, returning to the plaza with the various training rooms. However, things were not as he expected. 'The hell?' He looked around in confusion.
Unlike last time, the plaza was extremely crowded. There were more cultivators here than he had ever seen in the sect before, and they were all fairly young. 'Those two cultivators had mentioned there being a certain time of year that's normal for training. Has that time already come?' He wondered as he looked around. 'No.' He frowned. 'Something's wrong.'
It was hard to describe or put one's finger on it, but there was an odd tension in the air. All of the young cultivators looked extremely nervous. They were divided, sticking to individual groups while eyeing each other warily. It was as if they didn't trust their fellow sect mates at all, ready to be stabbed in the back at any moment.
Amongst the various groups, there was a single exception to this rule. A thin Chinese boy with short black hair laughed loudly. It seemed the boy was telling a story of his adventures to his friends. ”And then I told the prince, if you don't let me sleep with your sister, then you'll just have to do!” His surrounding friends looked nervous, but they forced themselves to laugh along with him. It made for an awkward situation amongst the tense atmosphere.
Ed stared silently at the boy. 'I'd bet my only eye that that's Dupe.' He walked towards him. The crowd moved out of his way, glancing at him in shock due to his missing body parts. However, they remained silent, as if they didn't want to be the sparks that lit an accidental fire.
The thin Chinese boy noticed Ed, and his eyes widened in surprise. He immediately turned to his friends. ”Please excuse me. I just remembered that I left my stove on.” He hurriedly turned around and left the crowd, leaving his confused friends behind.
Ed followed the path the Chinese boy took. A few cultivators watched curiously before turning away. Ultimately, whatever was happening wasn't their business.
Even the roads the two traveled on were crowded with cultivators. The Chinese boy took several twists and turns, continuing towards more desolate areas. He finally stopped when reaching a small opening surrounded by trees. It was a good distance from the main sect areas, being closer to the mountain wilderness.