Ryu stood at the gates to the inner city, his head angled upward.
Though most of the wall was stone, the pathway before them was a metal gate with clear gaps. Through these gaps, it was possible to see a moat of what looked like violet waters. Though these waters were almost eerily still, Ryu could still feel a hint of danger lurking below.
The drawbridge to the inner city was closed shut, acting as the door to the somewhat dilapidated castle they were looking at currently.
On the castle walls, some seemed to have begun to gather. The commotion of Ryu blasting the outer gates open was definitely not small. With the cultivation of the geniuses who called this city home, if they couldn't hear such a thing, they really wouldn't be worthy of any sort of prodigy title.
Still, those who stood at the top of the wall now had been there to begin with. They had only taken a small detour out of curiosity, thinking that one of the expeditionary squads had come back with good gains.
However, what they saw left them feeling intrigued. There was actually a new group that had come.
Any sort of power shift, even the smallest kind, in a place like this one could cause title waves. The fact that someone had managed to open the gates during the off period could only mean that there was a new player in town.
The real question, then, was how this would work out.
Their small city already had two tigers vying for the mountain peak. If there was a third tiger, or rather a third person who deemed themselves to be a tiger, things could get interesting… Well, interesting up to the point where the true tigers of the city decided to crush the resistance beneath their feet.
None of them had been here for long, but the strength of those two was already imprinted onto their souls. It had already reached a point where none of them dared to question their authority.
"~Nie! Nie!"
Nemesis looked around at the city unhappily, his silver hooves smashing the stone beneath him apart.
Ryu could only sigh and pat Nemesis lush coat.
"We'll go out soon once we've finish with business here, alright?"
"~Nie! Nie!"
Hot steam billowed out from Nemesis' nostrils, his muscles rippling with excitement.
By now, Nemesis had felt the change as well. The city seemed to be run down, but it served a very important purpose: Recovery.
In this city, Sarriel and Niel no longer needed to maintain their qi skin technique. And, though there was still no qi to absorb, there was at least no Nether Qi to worry about.
Beyond that, Ryu was certain that if there was such protection afforded here, there was also definitely a chance to replenish qi as well, whether it was by earning Qi Stones, or other means.
With just a glance, Ryu could tell that though the castle seemed shabby, it definitely had even better accommodations than the outer city. But, this was exactly why Nemesis was so unhappy.
To them, it was better to go forward. But, to Nemesis, it felt like they were travelling further and further from his goals. It was only after receiving Ryu's assurance that the big guy finally calmed.
It had to be remembered that though Nemesis was older than Little Rock, he was still in his teen years. For a beast, he might as well have still been a newborn. Losing control of his temper like this, especially considering the root of his bloodline, only made sense.
Ryu could only hope that those wanting to observe them from on high like they were now, didn't do anything to piss the big guy off, or else who knew what would happen?
"Sarriel, it's your turn." Ryu suddenly said.
"Huh?" Sarriel was completely caught off guard.
"From what I can see, not everyone on that wall passed the test personally. In all likelihood, they just followed the few that did in. So, only one of us needs to pass."
Sarriel's lovely violet eyes blinked, but it seemed that she was still in confusion. Even if she for some reason accepted that Ryu didn't want to make use of his Mental Realm Talent, why was he also not using the Key?
Though the Tri Key was rare, it couldn't be that rare, right? After all, their Moon World alone had four of them, who knew how many more there were across the various worlds that had apparently come here. Was there even a point in hiding it?
Sarriel shook her head, blushing beneath Ryu's gaze. She couldn't even think straight when he did things like this.
Taking a step forward, Sarriel stood before the Gate, reaching her hand out.
A strong surge of qi suddenly enveloped Sarriel.
In the next moment, the qi seemed to sap something away from her before forming what looked like an illusory skeleton.
The skeleton had bones that radiated a faint blue and had a dark black aura around it. Its spine was as straight as could be, its boney hands holding onto a katana that looked like a replica of Sarriel's own.
Ryu's eyes narrowed. 'This is the lowest tier Summon of a Summoner Necromancer. However, even the most fragile and useless of them has the strength of several Path Extinction Realm experts.'
This wasn't like those fairy tales. The so-called 'weak' skeletons found in their depictions were actually horrible monsters in real life.
They had endless recovery abilities only limited by their summoner. They were fast and agile, not to mention far easier to control without all the flesh weighing them down.
The strongest of Summoner Necromancers could manifest armies in the thousands of these Lower level Skeleton Warriors, leaving nothing but devastation in their wake.
Though Sarriel only had to fight one, even given her talent, it wouldn't necessarily be an easy task at all.
Niel frowned. He really didn't like the idea of thrusting Sarriel into battle like this. He didn't like Ryu's decision even the slightest bit.