---Western XiGuang Province, 8 Chakra Temple---
The stone slab under his butt was cold and hard, further irritating his sore butthole. The people of this world, or at least those who had kidnapped him, were backward assholes. How were they even surviving, wiping their butts with washcloths coarse as sandpaper?
He had been enduring for a year. The boring days of listening to scripture, trying to follow their obscure teaching, and "cultivate". How was he supposed to focus on anything if he was constantly fighting the diarrhea-inducing slop they fed them and the skin-ripping cloths? It was a vicious circle of suffering.
Not that it mattered. Despite what they said, he obviously had no talent for this cultivation thing. Which was probably why their treatment of him had worsened, but was it his fault? He just didn't get the whole "feel the intangible energy" kind of hippie shit.
He was a man of science! Maybe not fully a man, he was only 13 this year, but a young adult of science nonetheless! Even though he faced the apocalypse and magic, they were just new sets of rules, based on logic. At least as far as he heard, he was too young to get a class...
But science could deal with logic and rules. But this? This is esoteric bull crap! Ohh, gather qi by breathing and collect it in your dantian by channeling it to a quadrillion arbitrarily named and placed points in the body.
All according to some fucking poem their sect leader wrote while taking a piss a millennium ago. These people were all crazy. Delusional at best. It was probably the lack of education and always walking around with a bloody asshole. The hemorrhoids had already gotten to their brains.
Just what would he give for a roll of toilet paper and a working TV...
"Fuck it! I'm out of here!" he exclaimed, full of adolescent strength and anger. Jumping up, he grabbed the cultivation slab and threw it across the rundown abode he had been banished to. The sturdy piece of shit didn't break, but simply bounced back, crashing into the only shoddy table in the room.
Breathing heavily, full of frustration, his strength waned. How often had he said that? More often than he could count...Yet, whenever the outburst was over, his mind turned cold at the thought of escaping from this place.
There was nothing out there for him. He had no idea what happened to his parents. He had no idea where this place was. He had no idea where to go if he got out. He had no idea how to get out. He simply had no idea. All he knew was the consequence of failure.
A girl he came here with had tried to escape this place, just a couple of days after they arrived. His stomach still churned just thinking of what they did to her. His hands shook as he unwittingly recalled her screams, as they skinned her alive on the duel stage.
He started reassembling the table. Right, the bloody ass wasn't the worst that could happen. He would rather shave his own skin away than become tanned leather at the hands of someone else...
"Looks like you could need a helping hand. I can help you leave this place." A heavenly voice suddenly made an irresistible offer. Shocked, he turned to the empty room, only to find that a man in dark armor had appeared at the center of the room.
"Who are you?" he asked vigilantly, but this was no outfit he recognized. It was closer to what the adventurers in Y-City used to wear. Was he from Urth?
"My name is Clane, a member of Minas Mar's Oathguard. We are here to get you guys out."
For the first time in his life, he was glad to be butt hurt. The pain told him this was not a dream.
...
---Western XiGuang Province, Southern Blade Sect---
"Why do these sects all sit in the middle of mountains?" he thought to himself when they finally reached the Southern Blade Sect. For the past 5 days, Hannibal Cho had guided them across a mildly annoying mountain range
Before them, spread across a vast valley between two mountain ridges, they finally found the Southern Blade Sect, the second biggest sect of the alliance, after the Silk River Sect. It was like a sprawling city. According to investigations, there were roughly 30 minors and 25 Adults still living across the various peak halls of this place.
"We will rest here for now and begin scouting in an hour," the party leader ordered. They had spent the past 24 hours running across mountains and sparse forests. To stay hidden, they didn't dare use mounts. At least not on the way here.
"Are we setting up the ship, too?" someone asked, after practically breathing in a quick meal. The buffs of Link's cooking reinvigorated the group, and they were motivated to finish the mission not even an hour after the leader ordered the break.
"Since everyone is so eager, let's go ahead with the mission. Cork and Gurney will ready the ship. Hannibal, will you stay with them?" The leader turned to the cultivator, currently enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
"Hmm, yes, I will make sure nothing happens here," the foot-fisted fellow agreed to stay, while the remaining 8 members of the Covert Ops would enter the Southern Blade Sect for reconnaissance.
...
"This should be the Iron Blade Peak..." he thought to himself, looking at the stone cliffs sprinkled with rusting blades rammed into them. If cultivators couldn't rely on their strong bodies, they would have been wiped out by tetanus a long time ago.
Instead of doing it the cool way and using the blades as holds to climb up, he simply used the long stone step up the mountain. He was invisible anyway. At the foot of the mountain, the path was lined by ramshackle huts.
He found a couple of adults living in these run-down shacks. They were barely scraping by as servants of the sect. Further up the mountain came better houses and the structures the people of the Cloud Continent called courtyards.
They were meant for disciples of various ranks. The higher the rank of the disciples, the better the house and resources allotted to them. This seemed to be a common practice on the continent. Understandably so.
This made it easy to spark competition among their followers and motivate them to improve. It made sense, from their perspective. Among the better courtyards, he was able to locate a couple of children from Y-City that had been kidnapped to be disciples, at least on the surface.
He clicked his tongue. There was one missing. No matter where he looked at the quarters, one of the kids who was supposed to be a disciple was not to be found. According to their info, there shouldn't be any activities outside of the sect for them. They were still too young.
That could only mean one thing...
He was scouting the area, looking for something specific, when he heard a scream. It was not the worst case he expected, but this was not good either. Atop an eight-sided dais close to the peak of the mountain, a duel was held.
Well, a 3 vs.1 could hardly be called a duel. While the small crowd surrounding the dais was cheering, 3 older teens were beating up the child he was looking for. The girl was curled into a ball as the two boys and another girl were stomping her.
They were still surveying the situation. It was not the time for them to extract the people. If he revealed himself here to save her, it might jeopardize the whole operation. However, how could he watch a child get beaten to death?
"This is Hedgehog for the leader. I have a situation and might have to intervene," he spoke grimly into his com stone. "One of the children may die if I wait any longer..." he added to convey the urgency.
"...Positive. If you judge it necessary, then go for it." After a short moment of silence, the leader's voice came quietly from the stone. Balling his fists, he hurried to intervene; however, it was too late.
"I will kill all of you!" The screech came from the dais before he could make his move. The curled-up girl had made her move. With a swing of her arm, a crimson energy blade swept across the dais, cutting off the feet of her opponent.
Her face was a mask of anger and malice. Before anyone could stop her, she had already dismembered her bullies with a couple of ruthless strikes. The Oathguard froze in his steps. This girl definitely didn't need his help.
What she needed was a very good therapist.