Immortal Ki Technique

Ben heard this and settled down a bit, with a look at his sister, Nia and Ben both ran at the rock wall. With ki filling their bodies the two jumped over the wall in 3 or 4 leaps. Seeing this, the men were again filled with shock. To see Lowen do it they could accept it by now but seeing Nia and Ben whom they had known for years leap a wall faster than any of them could, it was almost unfathomable. As quickly as the two had gotten over the wall just as quickly a few bodies fell from it. 4 birds 3 snakes 1 rabbit and 2 small boars dropped from the top of the wall. Nia and Ben once again landed at the bottom of the wall. The men saw this and gathered over, seeing all this food they all stared at each other with disbelief. They were the best hunters in the village and they had found nothing for weeks now yet these kids had caught so much. Thinking about how these kids had moved earlier, the hunters all had the same thought...

(Of course, they could catch this much prey, with those abilities they outdo us all.)

One of the men, however, noticed something odd. Looking at each of the wounds on the animals the man yelled out.

"Arrows, they only used a bow and arrow."

The 5 men looked at the wounds on the animals and with their hunter"s eyes they could tell how each animal had died and sure enough, they were all killed with arrows. Did this not mean that they had used none of their skills from earlier and yet they still caught so much prey. This was simply amazing. The men looked at the children again, this time with a little trepidation as well as amazement.

Lowen looked at the men and told them to carry the food, afterward when they returned to the village Lowen would split the food with them. Although with Nia and Ben"s help they could just manage to carry everything but Lowen could clearly see the desperation for food in each of the men"s eyes. Lowen wasn"t that charitable though and decided they would owe him later on. With that proposition, the men readily agreed, carry some food and get some food in return, that was of course easier than hunting. As everyone returned to the village, the men quickly told everyone what happened, surprising them all, to say the least.

Lowen overhearing could care less about the people"s interest and excitement and instead went his separate way. Walking into the Chief Hall, he quickly met up with Roland and the three elders. With the wolf on his shoulder, Lowen threw the corpse down on the floor shocking the elders. One of them with a trembling voice asked.

"What, what is this about?"

Lowen ignored this elder and instead explained what had happened in the forest. Roland began processing this but couldn"t figure out what was going on but what Lowen had told him definitely led him to believe something was happening within the forest and mountain, to what degree though was the question. Lowen seeing the questioning gaze on everyone"s faces went over the facts once more.

"If we look at the situation in individual parts none of it will seem very odd but once we combine everything, a disturbing picture starts to form.

Pointing at the wolf Lowen laid things out.

"This wolf for example, looking at its body does anyone notice anything odd?"

Staring at the wolf one of the elders could already see something wrong and answered.

"This wolf, even though it"s in its hunting season its ribs are clearly seen, is it sick?"

Lowen shook his head.

"No, not sick, starving."

Lowen suggested for the men to try lifting the wolf and each one did. As they each picked the dead wolf up they were each surprised at how light it was. Once again and elder spoke albeit with some confusion mixed in.

"How can it be so light, this wolf is probably less than 100 pounds."

Roland had taught Lowen a few things about the nearby species that inhabited the area and one of those species included this type of wolf. This wolf species is supposed to weigh between 145-165 pounds, instead, this one weighed less than a 100. Lowen looked at the elders and Roland and continued.

"Not only does this wolf weigh so little, but the other wolf"s in the pack all looked to be around the same weight. These wolfs are going hungry and they may even be cannibalizing on each other."

Before any of the elders or Roland could ask him why he thought that, Lowen saw the questioning look on all of their faces and instead asked a question himself.

"Roland, you"ve told me once before that a pack of wolfs numbers at least 15 always but the group we encountered only numbered 9. You also told me that wolfs when hunting and after everything is said and done, will grab their food and leave. There was no food though and not once did you ever mention them carting their fallen comrades back to where they came from. So tell me, why then did those wolfs take the other wolf corpses back with them?"

The elders and Roland put the pieces together and agreed with Lowen. The lack of food within the forest, the underweight pack of wolfs and them carrying off their dead comrades. This all seemed to line up but it left everyone with the same question. Roland pondered some more but he still couldn"t figure out why and if he didn"t come to a rightful conclusion soon, then the villagers faced possible starvation for the coming winter. Looking at this small boy in front of him Roland wondered if he could have the answer. Roland didn"t bother putting up an att.i.tude and simply asked.

"Lowen, do you know why this is happening?"

The elders, as well as Lowen, looked at Roland curiously. Several months ago Roland would have probably just demanded Lowen to tell him what he knew. Roland used to be extremely haughty, as though he were superior to any and all and because of who he was and the power he held no one called him out, it was only natural. Even Roland himself had thought himself in that way but after Lowen had stood up to him and threw his hypocrisy back in his face, Roland recognized something in himself. He realized he had become this way and he hadn"t started like this. He recognized that because of this att.i.tude he had pushed many away, and many that he cared for and because of that, the moment he was in trouble and needed help no one came to his aid. When he originally wanted to enter the 5th circle and merge his life with his Mage Core, had he had help, he might not have failed. As a matter of fact, he was almost 100% sure. Not only that, even if he still had failed, if someone could have helped him immediately after his accident then the damage might not have been so horrendously bad and he might have even been able to heal himself in only a years time. Thinking of the many decades he wasted alone and injured, Roland regretted it immensely and after Lowen came down on him, Roland had closed himself up for a while in reflection. When Roland reemerged he was a changed man or at least he was trying to change himself slowly. Right now at this time 6 months later people were starting to recognize that he had softened a bit. Seeing this new side of him though no one seemed to be complaining.

As Lowen thought of the situation, only a few things came to mind. Seeing as Lowen was from an entirely different world he could only go off the knowledge he knew of his old world and the little he knew of this one. Combining both aspects he came to what he thought to be the most plausible explanation.

"When a predator leaves their own territory and searches for prey in another, usually it"s from one of two things. Either number one, the wolf pack has grown exceedingly large and is forced to expand to cover the increasing population or number two another species is somehow forcing the wolfs out. I think the obvious answer is the latter. But what I don"t know is, what creature is causing this."

The 5 people stood around the wolfs corpse deep in thought. Roland and the elders thought and thought but couldn"t comprehend what animal could be doing this. When it came t the mountains and forest there was a long existing hierarchy between the animals and beast. Wolfs may not be at the top but they weren"t too far off either and the creature above them in the hierarchy couldn"t breed fast enough to suddenly consume the amount of food that was missing from the forest. This problem had occurred too sudden and if it wasn"t solved soon then the future of this and possibly other villages would become uncertain.

As these four men and Lowen stood there and continued to think suddenly the door to the Chief Hall opened with a bang. A young man came barging in and before anyone could grow angry, the young man with panic in his voice shouted at the top of his lungs.

"CHIEF! CHIEF! THERE"S AN ARMY APPROACHING! THERE ALMOST HERE!"

Just as the young man had finished screaming in fear, the sound of the village bell began to toll as a warning for the other villagers. Roland, the elders, and even Lowen were all shocked as well as confused. Before Roland could even issue a command Lowen had already turned into a blur, disappearing in the direction of Nia"s place. Roland had no time to think about Lowen and instead shouted at the young man.

"WHO, WHO HAS COME, DON"T JUST STAND THERE LIKE A FOOL ANSWER ME!"

The young man, however, was too terrified and nervous to answer and instead just pointed at the entrance of the village before collapsing to the ground desperately trying to catch his breath.

With Lowen"s current speed and this villages small size, he arrived at Nia"s place in less than 2 seconds. Running inside, Lowen saw Nia and Ben standing around nervously, yes they had gained power but the trauma from being attacked over a year ago and the devastation it caused was still way too fresh for them. In order for them to become less emotional and reactive, Lowen had to train their mentality and toughen them up, and for that he needed time. When the two saw Lowen they immediately calmed down. Lowen smiled at the twos quick recovery and began to give them orders.

"Ok, this is the plan, there is an army outside the village I will go and see what their intentions are and you two will hide and observe. If anything happens to me, no matter what, don"t try to interfere. Instead, Nia, using your Shadow Steps, I want you to take your brother and run as far away as you can. Take nothing else and flee if I survive then ill meet you at Jizhen within a few days if not..."

Before Lowen"s words finished, the tolling bell suddenly stopped. Outside, the sounds of panic quickly became sounds of cheering. Lowen, Nia, and Ben became curious, wasn"t there trouble, wasn"t an army coming. Lowen, Nia, and Ben cautiously stepped outside. Seeing people cheering and jumping in excitement the threes curiosity grew. In one leap Lowen jumped on top of the unsteady roof and observed the situation. At the entrance of the village, a group of soldiers no more than 100 was trotting on horseback into the village. Lowen expected to see panic on the villager"s faces but instead, he saw joy. As the soldiers rode into the village square, they were all smiling and waving at the people. Each and every one of them wore leather chest armor and carried either a sword at the hip or a bow slung behind them. Leading at the front was a tall st.u.r.dy man with a bluish grey metal chest plate and leather bracers. On this, mans chest plate was an image of a rhino with three horns one on its nose and two on its head. Looking at this small group of soldiers Lowen could see a few waving banners that also had the image of a rhino with three horns on its head. As the men all gathered in the middle of the village square, Roland stepped out of the Chief Hall with the three elders behind. Seeing the symbol on the banners as well as this tall knight with the same image on his chest plate, Roland took on an entirely different expression. With a welcoming gesture, Roland placed his right fist over his left chest and gave a slight bow, as he did he said.

"Rhylo Kingdom, it is an honor, I welcome you to this small humble village of mine."