Chapter 56: Overthinking
The moment his finger was raised, gravity manipulation kicked in, and a massive pillar of purple light fell from the sky above. It slammed into all of them without regard.
BOOM!
Their knees all bent and slammed into the ground. A few of them were sent headfirst into the ground and could not move.
"Arghhhhhhh!"
Their groans and struggles reached Ren’s ears. He simply smiled and kept his finger extended.
"Listen, it’s rude to attack or threaten someone in their own home. You walked into my forest and proceeded to pull your weapons on me. I have the right to kill you now, you know?" he asked, his voice laced with more boredom than seriousness.
"Arghh, tch, what the hell are you?" Leon groaned, struggling to push himself off the ground, but the gravity was far too much.
"Arghhhhhh! Rawrrrrrrr!" Gerald let out a thundering roar all of a sudden, and his hair turned completely white. All his muscles tensed, and he blasted off the ground in one swift movement, breaking out of the gravity as he picked up his axe and charged ahead.
"Hmm?" Ren was stunned when he saw him coming. Stunned, but not worried.
"Die, you monster!" Gerald roared and came in with a massive swing, only for Ren to block it with his arms. Sparks flew in all directions. Gerald and Ren locked eyes for a moment before Gerald pushed back and landed on the ground.
Ren stared at him for a few seconds longer and then finally agreed to play along. He dropped his finger and stopped the gravity, then signalled for Gerald to come and attack.
Gerald gritted his teeth. He twisted his feet slightly and blasted forward, dust and debris rising from where he had been. He launched himself with a full-power swing that would have chopped down whatever was in front of him.
Ren simply stepped forward and used Iron Scales. He raised his hands and took the attack. The axe slammed right into them.
CLANG!
The collision sent a shockwave that sent dust and stones flying.
Gerald was stunned when he saw how easily Ren had stopped his attack. He tried to back away as fast as he could, but Ren grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in, proceeding to launch a punch right into his gut.
Gerald hurled hard. His eyes widened as the pain shot through his entire body. He tried to compose himself and fight back, but Ren used gravity manipulation and blasted him backwards, hurling him through the air at thundering speeds.
He slammed into the ground hard, bounced, and then crashed into the ground once again.
Ren smiled and then spoke. "You should really refrain from attacking any further," Ren said.
Everyone there was stunned. They had witnessed Gerald, an Iron-ranked adventurer who was a three-star warrior, get tossed back with so much ease. He did not even stand a chance.
"Can you guys not attack and use your words?" Ren asked.
"I’m not really in the business of killing the weak, but I’ll get rid of you in a second if you choose to be stubborn," he warned with a casual voice, but that was all that he needed to warn them. He had shown them that if they chose to be stubborn, they would get killed.
Gerald gritted his teeth as he rose to his feet, but even he knew when he had been far outclassed. His white hair returned to normal, and he dropped his head in defeat.
Ren saw this and smiled.
"Alright, much better. Since we are on the same page now, how about you lot come with me to my home? I have a few questions I’ve been itching to ask humans, and I’m sure you have quite a few too," he invited them and then turned around to start walking.
"Master, should we really allow humans to see our homes?" Ezra asked. She turned and looked at the humans. "They have been known to destroy whatever they come across."
"I think they are pretty chill. They seem fun, I have to say," Riker said.
"Don’t be worried, Ezra. Silas, Remu, and Ragna are at the settlement, and we also have you. If they did anything, they would die before they could take their next breath," Ren assured her.
"Uhm, we can kind of hear you guys," Leon pointed out.
"Yeah, we know," Riker said.
"We do not care," Ezra said and turned to keep walking.
The humans felt a sting from the way they reacted. It was as if they could not care less about their presence there, and it was true.
The thing about monsters was they could read a bit about the strength of their opponents through the aura seeping out of them in their latent state. This measurement metric could be very off at times, but they were certain that these humans had nothing on them, aside from one.
Ren turned his head to look at Luna, only to see her standing right behind him. Ezra and Riker were staring at her with shock, and she was simply looking at Ren.
"Luna," the adventurers called out to her, scared that she would piss Ren off.
"Human, step back. How dare you get close to Master?" Ezra snapped immediately. She reached out her hand to grab Luna, but then she felt Ren’s gaze piercing right through her skull. She looked up and saw him looking, and immediately stepped back.
Ren turned his gaze to Luna.
"What do you want?" he asked, but she gave no reply and simply stood beside him.
"Hmmm?" Not sure what to do, Ren kept walking, and she walked beside him. He kept glancing at her every few seconds as if trying to understand her. She was certainly mysterious, and even then, she seemed to be a sweet soul. It just oozed off her.
’I wonder, how did she manage to see me when the others could not?’ His gaze moved to her eyes. ’Those eyes don’t seem normal. Is it something special? Hmm, maybe I’m overthinking it.’
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