Meeting a Familiar Face (2)

Although the unraveling technique failed, it still had an effect on the men. When the three men suddenly froze in place with frightened expressions, the young man quickly took the opportunity to escape their encirclement and then attacked with one of his strongest spells. 

"Verdant Cross!"

A cross of green light bigger than a person appeared from his sword and flew towards the three. Although it felt like death was pulling on their hearts, the unraveling technique only froze them for a moment so all of them were able to react to the spell. The cross was blocked by their barriers, but that was only the start of the spell. After colliding, the cross exploded into several smaller crosses, each the size of a finger. The crosses captured the three within their number, and then spun around to create a vortex that exerted a pull which forced the three to stay within the center of the crosses as they began attacking. 

The young man knew that this wouldn't be enough to kill them, but he didn't think they would be able to escape any time soon so he planned to find somewhere safe to rest for the time being. Luckily, Shui was here to help him. Fire would be a good pick, but there was no reason to burn the flowers too so he went with ice instead. 

'Freeze.' 'Focus.' 'Concentrate.'

A chilly blue ray flew from Shui's finger and entered the vortex of crosses. The power of cold which Shui shot into the vortex, spread through the wind and created a mini hailstorm that quickly drained the assailants of their body temperature until only stiff statues remained. When the young man used his spiritual sense to check on them, he noticed that there was no longer any sign of life inside the vortex, so he dispelled it and found the broken bodies of the three. 

He warily looked for the perpetrator, but his face stiffened once he spotted Shui approaching him.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Reinhart?"

The young man, charming enough to receive a smile from any lady, with a dignified atmosphere that remained despite his condition, was the same inner sect disciple who had welcomed Kate along with Cassandra. He appeared arrogant at first, but every time Kate visited the Heaven Clan, he followed her, so Shui was aware that he was actually very caring towards his comrades and would never harm others without cause. It was for these reasons that he felt comfortable leaving Kate in the care of this senior brother. 

"Are you, really, Shui of the Heaven Clan?"

"I go by just Shui these days. After well, the incident."

Shui didn't need to go into details for Reinhart to understand what he meant. The end of the Heaven Clan had long reached his ears and he had even spent some time comforting Kate after she received the news. They hadn't received word of the names of the survivors, and he honestly hadn't held much hope since Shui was crippled, but he was glad to see him alive nonetheless.

"I'm glad that you made it out of it alive. Kate said she wasn't worried, but I knew it bothered her. Still, I am curious as to what happened to you."

Although his face hadn't become indistinguishable, Shui was almost incomparable to the frail boy he remembered. Kate never missed a chance to talk about how talented Shui was, but it was only now that he was starting to believe her. While Shui's aura was otherworldly and hard for him to evaluate, his cultivation made it clear that he had made progress so great that even Kate couldn't compare. 

"Yes, I'm sure we have plenty to catch up on. My friends and I are planning on staying in Henon for a short time, why don't you come with us and recuperate?"

Reinhart showed a pensive expression for a few moments, before shaking his head.

"Thank you for the offer, but I've been away from Storm Sky Manor for longer than planned, so I'd like to get back as soon as I can."

"I can understand that, but what makes you so sure there won't be more interference along the way? I don't think you're in the best condition for that."

"...Do you know who sent those men?"

"Honestly, seeing them surprised me. I didn't expect that the Darino Gang would be after you too."

"'Too'? It seems we really do need to have a talk. Fine, I'll travel with you, but did you mention something about comrades?"

"Yes, a brother of my friend was targeted by the Darino Gang, so we came here to save him. They should be here, ah, there they are."

The border hadn't been very far from where he had separated from the others, so they were now visible to Reinhart and Shui.

"Hmm? Two of them are wearing the coat for inner section disciples, did you meet them in Silver City?"

"That's right, did I not mention it? I joined Storm Sky Manor so I'm your junior now too. If it was anyone else I would refrain, but should I start calling you Senior Brother?"

Unlike Serina and Fatty, Shui had taken off his silk coat after leaving Silver City. It didn't feel particularly restricting, but Shui felt more natural without it. 

"I have no junior that would roam about in public without their coat."

"But didn't Kate always take off hers when you weren't around?"

"...She wears it when on missions."

"Really?"

"...Just put on your coat."

"Okay."

It wasn't much trouble so Shui obediently took his coat out and put it on. Even with the coat on, most would probably be too conscious of Shui's own presence, or lack of, to notice the Storm Sky Manor emblem, but Reinhart didn't bother saying anything else. Once Serina and the others caught up, they immediately bowed and greeted Reinhart politely.

""It is our pleasure to greet senior brother.""

"You may be at ease my juniors. I am Reinhart of the Clinden family, direct disciple of Core Elder Ren."

""Greetings, Senior Brother Reinhart!""

When he saw how naturally they greeted him, Shui wondered if that was the way he should have acted, but since Reinhart didn't say anything he figured it was fine. Reinhart was actually looking at him after they showed the greeting, but as Shui seemed ignorant to his glare, he sighed and resigned himself.

'Is this how geniuses of the Heaven clan are supposed to act like?'

Before Serina and Fatty bowed to him, Fatty put down Sef who assumed a similar position. Sef had no relation to Storm Sky Manor so he wondered how to greet Reinhart, before eventually settling on Sir. Despite his lofty appearance, Reinhart didn't fuss over titles very much so it caused no problem. Shui explained that Reinhart was also being chased by the Darino Gang so he would be coming with them to recover. Reinhart had left the manor before they joined so this was their first time seeing him, but he didn't have a bad reputation so they had no problem with this arrangement. As for the fact that Darino Gang was chasing him, Sef was in the same boat so that was even less of a problem.