"How did you do that?" Lynn asked as Jin led the front, searching for an exit. Be it a staircase or a door, he just wanted to regain his bearings since the System had decided not to report anything to him ever since the fight broke out. (Courtesy of their dear Kraft who claimed it would be good for Jin to be cut off, so he can simply focus on defeating the enemies. Guess it was no brainer to learn who was the culprit behind sending them directly in front of the Tyr Elites.)
"Do what?!" Jin wondered as he could hear shouting from afar, believing that those Demons had already broken down the ice barrier.
"That ice barrier thingy. The large guy Demon in full plate armour got heated up with your Black Fire, but then you managed to encase him in ice without any trouble." Lynn demanded to know, seemingly more concerned about Jin's actions than the fact that they were in the middle of enemy territory.
Serving as a grim reminder, a patrol showed up right in front of them. Luckily Jin was already on the offensive with the momentum he had. He leaped toward the wall and dived into the pair of patrols who had come to investigate the commotion, but had not been prepared from the ambush. Since the Dungeon Supplier had the high ground there was nothing they could do.
Jin's Bam and Boo had turned into long daggers and Jin imbued it with Black Fire. As if it was to answer Lynn's question, the Black Fire enveloped the entire patrol once they got hit and slashed by the daggers. Within an instant, their scorching flames and screams were silenced as a block of White Ice encased them in it.
"I merely transpose the elements of fire into ice. This way the intensity of the fire burning can become thick ice in an instant." Jin explained, yet Lynn had trouble comprehending it at all. If anything her former schooling education had taught her, it was virtually impossible to do that.
"Erm… I'm sorry, but I don't know how else to explain it." Jin scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, before he beckoned for Lynn to continue moving. Although she still felt a bit unsatisfied with the answer, Lynn was aware enough not to make a scene and just him at a later point in time when they were not being pursued.
"The System could give a possible explanation but it might further complicate your understanding." The System directly spoke to Lynn. "User's ability to cast magic is based on both his chi and mana circuits. Aside from that, his cultivation of the Nineteen Lazy Astral Panda has him interchange the elements with the help of those panda silhouettes that he cultivates."
"You mean those pandas in that style are actually meant for more than just serving as a display of his strength?!" Lynn was shocked to learn something new about Jin's cultivation.
"While it is not conclusive evidence, given that the pandas don't appear unless User utilises the Panda Energies, it could be because User has not reached sufficient grade for them to appear and assist him." The System stated and Lynn took it as gospel truth since it was the System that bestowed the cultivation of the Astral Pandas to Jin.
As she was contemplating, a loud explosion was heard right behind her, followed by many more. It was only through the side of her eye that she saw the very same magical arrows flying towards them again. If not for the change in direction by quickly entering a hallway to the left side of the station, the two of them could have been blown to pieces. (Although that would be Lynn underestimating Jin.)
"They managed to chase behind us this quickly?" Jin thought to himself as he grabbed Lynn's hand, channeling Green Panda Wind Energy through her entire body, allowing her to feel his Maqi pulsating through her veins. She instantly felt lighter and her steps were fleeting through the corridor.
"Let's go up." Jin said as he figured if they were against the Tyr Elites, they might as well finish the fight with their Shadow King.
"You sure it is a good idea? Shouldn't we clear his lackeys first before entering a fight against the big boss?" Lynn expressed her concerns as her heart was racing wildly.
She herself was unsure if it was because this was the first time she was in an upcoming intensive fight with just Jin alone or whether she was just genuinely concerned about being able to put up a good first deep impression in Jin's mind.
"Does the order matter, as long as we win? That is the most important part of this particular showcase, right?" Jin smirked as he continued to hold on to Lynn's hand as they went up the stairs. If anything, the couple noticed that what they were climbing seemed like a tower of endless stairs. However, because of this particular feature, Jin was able to narrow down which part of the Petal District he was in.
The Petal lighthouse.
Having an elusive cove to themselves, the demons in Petal District had erected a lighthouse to handle any possible derelict sh.i.p.s coming from their side. As odd as it might sound, Demopolis City was created akin to a peninsula because of its capability to do just that.
There was not much explanation why it was shaped in such a way in the Dungeon Core's records but it did bolster the strength of their navy forces and also allowed them to connect to other Dungeon Cities easily. This gave them access to the resources of Dungeon World's oceans and provided a form of natural defence.
But as Jin and Lynn climbed up the spiraling stairs of the Petal lighthouse, they could also see their pursuers rushing up to them in full force. Not only did more magical arrows come flying their way, there was a shadow silhouette which Lynn managed to sense while Jin was busy fending off the arrows. (Mainly due to her enhanced senses from cooking, she was able to pick up more minute changes in the surroundings without information overload.)
Like what she did previously, she stuck a metal rice bowl on the wall but instead of the inscription 'Melt', it was 'Simmer'. This particular inscription acted as a Trap Activation type of spell.
"Activate!" Lynn ordered as she continued to be dragged up the stairs by Jin.
