House of Amarin

Ariana and the rest watched with unblinking eyes as the group of ten got closer to their position, displaying their strength for everyone to see. With a move of her hand, she gently sent Yue to the back as they waited for their visitors to stop their approach.

"Hello." Shao nodded, greeting them in a simple, plain way, scanning them, trying to determine their power level. With a furrow of his brows, he had to realize that all of them had something on person that made it hard to gauge their strengths.

"Can we help?" Ariana asked, returning the nod, her voice remaining even, neither courteous nor rude.

"Yes, you can." Shao smiled before introducing his side, "My name is Shao, First Elder of the Soulbound Sect, and these are my companions, Sixth Elder Loonah and Seventh Elder Taurel, while the rest are our disciples."

"Greetings." The other side bowed slightly, cupping their hands, returning the gesture. "We are from the Immortal Wonders Sect."

"Heh, and they call me a pompous snob!" Trishula scoffed audibly enough for everybody to hear.

"Hmph! My Mom is stronger than all of you put together!" Yue grumbled, clearly angered by his comment, making the others let their mouth curl upwards and not reprimand her at all.

"Is this how your sect teaches their young?" Shao asked, watching them with a bit less friendly light in his eyes.

"You see... First Elder Shao, was it?" Ariana replied with a slightly tilted head, "Our sect has a simple principle: Return everything in kind. When the approach is soft, we are mellow in return. When it is hard... We become firm. It is perfectly balanced and follows the harmony of the Cosmos."

"Are you representing everybody in your sect, Miss...?"

"Ariana." She inclined her head slowly, maintaining a small smile on her face, "And yes, I can represent my sect as do all of my companions here. We are all at the rank of Immortal."

"Hmph..." Trishula snorted again, this time receiving a glare from Shao, making him hold back his tongue that was about to lash out.

"Well then... let me ask you to look past my young friend's harshness as he is still young."

"Young? Heh... Sure!" Yue giggled at the back, and this time, Trishula couldn't stop himself from speaking up.

"Says someone who parades around as a child!"

"Heeeeh?" Yue moaned, sticking her head out between Ariana and Toobu, letting her tongue poke out playfully, "I'm twelve!"

At first, they wanted to refute it. There was no way that was true. Twelve? That had to be a lie, especially because it was the age that most people in Meriath began to train. Traveling the Cosmos? That could mentally break someone... Not to mention... Reaching the level of Adepti? When did she start, then? In the womb? By reflex, the group looked at Trishula, and Korvall couldn't help but hold his breath back. He was already close to a hundred... and he counted as someone talented and somebody who was not leisurely cultivating. He was giving it his all; even then, he was only a Speciali. What type of people did they run into?

"She isn't lying..." Trishula nodded, his eyes seeing the truth in her soul, and a new desire ignited within his eyes. Something like her... ought to be delicious.

That hungry, predatory glint didn't escape Ariana's vision or her companions' senses. Before long, the group of Shao was being pressured by their combined aura, ringing bells of warning in their heads.

"What's the meaning of this?" Shao asked aggressively, battling the weight that was put on them, but he could only resist on his own, unable to expand it towards his disciples, who started groaning, coughing up blood, and going to one knee. If not for Taurel's stepping before him, Korvall would probably also be on the 'ground,' being pushed down by an invisible hand.

"You...!" Groaned Trishula as he was never before put into a situation like this... he was never made to kneel, not even before their Sect Master... yet now? He couldn't even lift his head to look at them.

"Begone from our territory!" Ariana exclaimed, her voice booming with power, and a black aura expanded out from her, moving and changing the power of the cosmos directly, something that Shao and the rest watched with serious eyes. The stars were snuffed out, and endless darkness remained in their place while Ariana looked twice as tall as before.

"Your territory?" Shao fought back, no longer holding down his strength, matching Ariana's to the most minuscule detail.

"Ours!" A second voice joined in as Toobu stepped next to his old friend, his aura matching Ariana's and doubling the pressure on Shao instantly. "If my Sister says it, she sniffed out your wretched thoughts! One of you stinks so much even I can smell it!" He added with a sneer, looking at Trishula.

"You don't want to make us your enemy!" Loonah barked, now uniting her soul with Shao's and launching an attack at Toobu's to push them away. A strike like that was the basis of their unique cultivation, bypassing any and all defenses built for facing the energies of the Cosmos or any other realm.

"Hmph!"

With a sharp snort, their attack was met with an equal force, dispelling it while the ethereal figure of Orsi started glowing, shielding her friends from their soul-based attack. It was a much bigger surprise and shock to Shao and the rest than them being able to pressure their group. Another faction that had a technique to cultivate the soul... They had never before met with anybody like that. They were confident they were the only ones in the Cosmos, unique and destined to rule over the others sooner or later.

"Enough!" Shao declared, redrawing his powers, and was glad to see Ariana and the others followed suit. It told him they were not confident in fighting them, nor were they ready to start a war just like that. The first meeting was a failure, but it was not a catastrophe. They just had to come back with force to show they were not a faction to be taken lightly. "We will remember this!"

"Don't worry, we won't forget it either!" Wyland scoffed, standing beside Yue, shielding her from everything that happened right now.

Watching the group leave, Valen couldn't help but furrow his brows, looking at his peers.

"Are we sure to let them leave like this? The look in that guy's eyes made me want to poke them out!"

"Yeah!" His wife Elyse nodded rapidly, ready to go after them and beat them down.

"We won't." Ariana replied, shaking her head and closing the conversation at once, "We don't know their full strength and the scope of their sect. Remember the teachings of Old Kai! The Cosmos is dangerous and filled with unpredictable powers! We are still counted as newcomers... don't go and incite wars with every faction we come across!"

"But we ain't to lie down to all provocations either!" Wyland chuckled, rubbing the head of Yue, who enjoyed being in the center of attention. "Just as Sister Ariana said! We are not to be bullied!"

"We still need to keep an eye out!" Toobu grunted, "I'll stay back. Tell the others we found a new realm with primitive people and a door that was left wide open to their lands! They are not ready for the Cosmos; we must defend them until they grow stronger..."

"We will send someone to seal it and set up our new borders with a few disciples on guard duty!" Ariana nodded, clapping his shoulders in gratitude.

"Just don't send Kyu! Or she will gobble them up before they have a chance to grow!"

...
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......

On the road back, Korvall tried to look invisible and not cause any trouble after seeing the faces of the elders, especially Trishula's. He was sure they were talking amongst themselves as he could catch their eyes looking at the other from time to time. The only one who remained stoic and as calm as ever was his own master.

"Worried?" Taurel asked, not by voice or transmission but by directly speaking to his disciple's soul.

"We didn't accomplish what we set out to do, Master... worse, we were humiliated!"

"True, but the one who felt he was humiliated was Trishula. It was his first setback, bound to happen sooner or later. We still learned a lot, and we can formulate our next move from this meeting!"

"Are we coming back...?"

"It is not something you have to worry about. Not for now. This is not the first faction we meet in the Cosmos and not the first that reacts to us like this. The previous one is currently one of our resource realms~!" He confidently said, wearing a slight smile, "What was surprising, however, was that they had someone who cultivated her soul. It was different from our methods, but it is something we have to investigate. This is the first that we come across someone else, and... their knowledge could be beneficial. I feel the moment the Sect Master hears about it, we will be sent out to acquire their knowledge at all costs."

"I felt it too... it was... nothing I have ever had the chance to experience!"

"So you can see why it is so enticing. Trishula is still groaning about the disrespect... but we are more interested in that one girl."

"Not the young one?"

"Talented people are bound to appear. Our Sect Master was even faster when he was that young, so it is not THAT shocking, but yes, it was... surprising. We are more focused on their techniques! Leave Trishula to his own, and don't get swept up in his antics! It would only bring you death! He would use you for his own needs and then discard you!"

"Yes, Master! I... I think I will remain in Meriath for now. I have a lot to think about."

"A good choice. You focus on your cultivation and leave the problems to those who are at a level to deal with them!"

...
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......

"What happened after?" Lia asked, totally immersed in his story, forgetting she was listening to an Undead and someone from the same sect that was now killing people, harvesting their souls.

"A lot." Korvall chuckled, feeling happy that he could play the same role now as his master did back in those lost days. "What I didn't catch, but the Supreme Elders of that time did, was that someone called 'Hajna' was already in contact with these Immortals."

"I heard about her!" Yima exclaimed, sharing her knowledge proudly with Lia, "It was the name of the leader of another sect in the old times, but they were the first to be destroyed!"

"Thanks to the machinations of the Golden Claw," Korvall added, making Lia suddenly flinch as she knew a lot about what happened... and about the strange being calling herself Kyu and how she destroyed them. "Oh? You heard the name before?" Korvall asked, catching Lia's change of expression.

"I... In passing, yes. I don't know much."

"The tale goes like this!" Korvall continued, smiling like an all-knowing teacher, "We thought the Eternals, the sect that this Hajna led, were the first to contact them. But it soon turned out to be untrue... you see, the real Hajna at that moment was with our Sect Master! We had a dispute over some resources, and they were working on that problem... Trying to come to an agreement. The one masquerading as Hajna was from the Golden Claw!"

"Are we sure about that?" Lia asked, unable to be not skeptical towards the words of an Undead.

"We have no proof, but it was the modus operandi of that bastardly bunch!" Korvall laughed, clicking his tongue. "Why do you two think the Eternals were destroyed first? All that later played out was traced back to 'Hajna,' even though it was Trishula who turned it into a full-blown war. These Immortals determined that it was 'Hajna' and her plans that allowed things to play out as is! She was treated as a guest, yet she was the one who stole secrets and fed back information to Trishula, making it possible for him to do what he did. The Golden Claw didn't count on the fact that the Eternals would be thoroughly destroyed... We guess they wanted their Realm Key, but... with what happened, they had no chance of stealing it." Yima was already opening her mouth to explain what a Realm Key was, but Lia spoke up first, looking into Korvall's eyes.

"What did he do?"

"Well... I can tell you what happened, but I was not there... So don't take my words for as gospel! I can only tell you what I learned and heard about it... but it became the turning point from where we were beaten back so badly we are now prisoners of our own home..."