The lit flare which Claire threw in eventually went out, and it became evident that there were no other ways to get in or out except the door Jin had used to enter this place. Aside from being dark and damp, he noticed a lot of battle marks on the walls.
All the dents, cuts and bits of broken wall on the side of the corners were indicative that he was not the first occupant in this Isolation Ward ever. “So ehh kinda like solitary confinement for like three days?”
“Not very solitary when you have the System with you if you ask me.” Pei came out as she snapped her fingers out and lit the entire isolation ward with a bright warm light. “Now, this is a story that people could have failed to see.” Pei paced herself a little while she noticed the pictographs on the wall. Kraft appeared as well and with his phone started taking a video of the entire place.
“Looks like a lot of history that had been going on in this room,” Kraft commented and saw…a very peculiar picture at the upper side of a wall.
“Heh, I kind of figured that he would appear here.”
“Hmph, just the picture alone is enough to spoil my mood the moment I saw that face.” Pei spat at the wall even though her saliva spit was too far away from that picture. “You are lucky I can control myself as compared to last time.” She returned into the bracelet without any warning.
“Who’s he?” Jin asked as he walked up to have a closer look.
“The one person none of the foxes will ever forget.” Kraft sighed as he stopped the video and kept his phone. “Panda Lord Zhou Lin.”
“EX! Jin is now our Master!” Pei shouted via her bracelet with much hatred still brewing inside her.
“He’s a Demon Exorcist too?” Jin could only fathom that much from the pictographs.
“On the contrary. He is the one all Demon Exorcists were after. You know, like the Last Boss kind of thing? Not every one that held the System is kind and benevolent… or as lazy as a certain someone was at the start.” Kraft said as if it was a dark history for the System and the bellators.
“Care to explain more?” Jin asked as he continued to look at the pictographs around Zhou Lin’s panel.
“Do you really think now is the right time for a history lesson?” Kraft folded his arm and asked.
“…You are right, I was distracted for a little. Every second should count.” Jin replied, but even though he was willing to train, he had no idea how to start. As one of the few capable of reading his mind, Kraft sighed and shook his lowered head.
“Seriously, buck up, dude. What happens if there comes a time, we won’t be able to look after and protect you? What happens if we should cease to exist or even worse everyone will be against you? While friends and allies are great and stuff, in the end, the one person you will be able to count on at all times, is yourself.” Kraft’s feedback to Jin made the latter start to ponder, and the former gave him one last chance to think for himself before he gave his aid.
Jin did come up with a few ways, but he wasn’t sure how effective any of those methods would aid him. Still, he would just give it a try since Jin was guessing that Grandma Yuan’s reason for placing him in isolation was so that he could train with his System without the other demon exorcist trainees peeking at him. He also believed it also ensured that he spent the time training rather than worrying about the shop.
“If that is the case…” Jin searched in his storage for one particular item. The item that might potentially support him since the System was unable able to help Jin with him being far away from his home base.
The large sphere of sludge.
“Ah, good. I was thinking of that too.” Kraft sniggered evilly before continuing. “So what do you plan to do with it?”
“You saw it yourself. One of them is a Nine Tail Fox… You are a Fox …master, tamer….collector… I don’t exactly know. All I know you are a bellator with foxes! You got to know something about the Nine Tail Fox Demon.” Jin said before realising that he was asking for a request. “I figured if I can against a demon, I might understand how their fighting patterns would be.”
“…Please help, Kraft.” Jin bowed a little to show some respect to him.
“Hmm…That attitude, I don’t dislike it.” Kraft replied as he summoned Ixel, Itori and Ixa, His three main battle offensive foxes. “Combine with the sludge and fight with Jin. There’s no need to hold back too much. I’ll ask Milk to place a near death barrier for him so he will not have to die and waste resources resurrecting.”
“Aye Aye! I heard my name.” Milk appeared as commanded by the Original Bellator of the System. “Sorry Jin, but you will end up in lots of pain. But pain is good for you to grow, okay? After everything is over, I shall let you sleep on my lap.” Milk winked at Jin as she cast an Epic Level spell called Critical Survival Barrier.
As the name suggested, it would allow Jin to survive even the most severe of hits by the three foxes. It was similar to a video game cheat where the player would forever have 1hp no matter how much damage was done…or until the barrier protecting it disappears.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea for the sludge to consume your foxes?” Jin asked in a worried tone.
“Awww, like I say. Think about yourself right now.” Kraft tilted his head towards the sludge and Jin could see that the three foxes had already merged with the sludge, producing a Three Tailed Fox Demon.
“From my analysis, even though she possessed a Grade 6 Nine Tailed Fox Demon cultivation above her, her true strength isn’t even on par to a true One Tailed Fox Demon no matter her appearances. Yet, her skills and techniques seem to be genuinely coming a Nine Tailed Fox Demon.” Kraft explained.
“So, if you can survive against this Three Tailed Demon, you should be able to defeat her pretty easily.” Kraft whistled upon finishing what he had to say, and the Three Tailed Demon shot a projectile of dark looking energy beam at Jin, similar to Panda Yawning. It was lucky that Jin was able to dodge in time and saw that the wall was already burning from the beam attack.
The Three Tailed Demon did not give any quarter and already zoomed past Jin as he was distracted by the burning aftermath of the beam attack, causing him to be slashed at the stomach. If not for the living armour plates activated in time, he would already have an open belly, spilling the guts out for everyone to see.
“Ahh, I forgot that you have those living armour plates. Shall I keep them for you?” Kraft asked courteously, but Jin hesitated about giving up his only type of armour. Since he did not respond immediately, Kraft snapped his finger once. At that point, Pei’s bracelet began to glow, attracting the Living Armour Plates towards it, and that was also the time she absorbed all the plates into her bracelet.
“We’ll return them to you after the three days. Like Milk said, for now, you have to suffer.” Pei told him via his thoughts.
“Grandma Yuan already said it. Use everything in your disposal! Well, except for those plates. But I know that you have a habit of keeping a trump card in case an opportunity arises from nowhere. However, life does not work like that! You already experienced it first hand how the pathetic kids ambushed you!” Kraft commented from the side as the Three Tailed Fox Demon swiped Jin to the ceiling of the Isolation ward with just a tail swipe.
“Sure, you don’t use the System. That one should be left as your ultimate trump card. And since that’s the case, use more of your other skills! Or else you are disrespecting the enemy and putting yourself in unnecessary danger!” Zeru suddenly appeared and scolded his disciple as the Three Tailed Fox Demon jumped and smashed its head when Jin barely recovered from hitting the ceiling.
“Fuck!!!” Jin coughed out blood from the attack and quickly used Panda Yawning to his best ability, hoping to hit the Three Tailed Fox Demon. However, the beam needed time to charge and with the pain he was filling, he was unable to focus his beam out. The Three Tailed Fox Demon smirked as it used its hind legs to kick Jin who was still in midair into the side of the walls.
However, this time Jin struggled through and used Panda Rolling to get out of harm’s way. Still, he could see that the Three Tailed Fox Demon floating in mid air, licking its paw. To the sludge infused fox, this was not a battle at all.
Jin now understood what his master meant as he took Bam out and switched it to a bow. The fox demon was not stupid as it quickly dashed towards Jin to prevent him from even nocking the bow. “Panda Swipe!” Instead of nocking the bow, Jin waited for the fox to come close enough for him to unleash his Panda Swipe.
Unfortunately, instead of the intended effect, the Three Tailed Fox Demon only flinched from the attack which surprised Jin as well. Thankfully the flinch was enough of a distraction. Jin was able to switch his tactics quick enough by transforming the bow into an axe and slashed it forward.
It barely scratched the fox at all.
Still, it gave Jin sufficient space to back away to take out his other weapon, Boo. The fox recovered from the attack and his three tails began to grow longer. Like living tentacles, the tails willingly moved to attack Jin from afar while the Fox Demon shot out an energy beam to strike the distracted Panda Cultivator.
“…They are still just playing with him. Why does it feel like all the monsters he encountered were too underwhelming for him to practice.” Kraft criticised as he looked at the fight from a corner with Zeru.
“I assumed that upon reaching Grade 8, he would have improved his skills or techniques. Looks like he did not have much at all except for the whirlwind attack Ming taught him.” Zeru commented to see how pathetic Jin was struggling against the Three Tailed Fox Demon.
“Meh, can’t be helped. He was left out of the loop for most of his life. Then he focused more on his business in recent days and neglected his training. Not everyone is as diligent as yourself, training every day and night relentlessly. Give that kid a break.” Kraft countered as the demon bit Jin on his left hand while he tried to defend himself.
“A break? Coming from you? Looks like you are the one that turned soft. Not me.” Zeru smiled and somehow that irritated Kraft, making him stare at Zeru intently.
“You want to fight? Do you think I won’t be able to destroy you without those three kids at my side? Maybe it’s time to remind you what I can do on my own…” There was a tinge of murderous vibe coming from Kraft, and Zeru ignored him to defuse the situation.
Another slash from the fox demon disfigured Jin’s face almost immediately but it also gave Jin the opportunity to slam his Boo in shield form at the fox demon.
“Black Panda Fire!” Jin shouted, and from the shield, a small compartment opened, spewing out a surge of fire at the Three Tailed Fox Demon, causing it to burn. Somehow, Jin was feeling the adrenaline rush as blood continued to leak from his hand and face. The pain of the attacks was scorching, but there was no time to stop.
Unfortunately, it’s precisely due to Milk’s Critical Survival barrier that the Three Tailed Fox Demon’s attack would not stop until Kraft said so. Hence, its either Jin obliterate it or suffered relentless attacks for 3 days straight before Milk could heal him up.
“I must…press on… Black Panda Fire!” Jin continued to spew the black Panda Fire, but the Fox Demon was smart enough to jump backwards and shot a beam of energy to counter the black fire from the shield. “White Panda Ice!’ Jin shouted as he imaged his chi to be near the Fox Demon and allowed it to materialise the Ice right beside his opponent.
This was the first time he was trying this and had no idea it could work. Usually, the ice would appear from him since the chi flowed out from him. This time, because of his residue chi being rampant in this isolation ward, Jin tried to send more chi towards the leftover chi and hoped that through imaging his chi that way, the Ice shards would appear to strike the Fox Demon.
It was a concept by the Western Mages since they already had concentrated mana or memorised spells which allowed them to store their mana before a combat fight. However, Jin was an Eastern cultivator and he could only try to replicate it. He never knew how successful it would be until now and one thing was for sure.
The White Panda Ice shard projectiles did materialise.
