"What? And who are you?" Jiaxing Er asked, turning to the voice, with barely concealed anger.
"Girl, calm down," a young, quite handsome guy, about twenty-three years old, stated. He had black hair, slightly long but not too much. The guy was solidly built, had an Asian appearance, was quite handsome, slightly below model level, and inspired respect and friendliness at first glance. However, his tone was infuriating; his hint was extremely clear: they decided to take the scorpion corpses from us, but are they really that stupid? Or did they not see the fight, or do they think I don't have enough strength to deal with them?
"Yes, she's probably still a schoolgirl. What are you kids doing here anyway?" asked a girl walking right behind the guy. She had long red, I would even say reddish, hair. She was honestly very beautiful, like a model. She had a good bust, probably a size four, and looked about the same age as the guy.
"I'd like to ask the same question: who are you?" I asked, finally disentangling myself from Jiaxing Er's embrace and taking a couple of steps forward, hiding my aura, which had appeared after killing a large number of living creatures and emphasized my natural magical aura.
I carefully looked at all the people who came for my prey. There were four people in total, including the red-haired one and the stylish guy. There was another girl, slightly timid in appearance, but holding herself quite confidently behind everyone. She had dyed short blue hair, a small bust, and in general, she somewhat resembled Jiaxing Er, only she was about five years older. There was also another guy, quite large, a head and a half taller than me, a confident bodybuilder, a mountain of muscles with long black hair tied in a ponytail.
All four were dressed quite stylishly, it was surprising how they endured the local heat. We were a stark contrast to them in our light, full-body clothing, similar to Arab attire. The stylish guy wore jeans and a black t-shirt, and a bunch of bracelets on his arms; he hid his eyes behind sunglasses. The red-haired girl was also dressed in a mini denim skirt and a red vest, which perfectly emphasized her figure. The timid girl was dressed almost the same, only the vest was blue, and instead of a mini denim skirt, she wore a wide, bluish skirt up to her knees. The bodybuilder was dressed in loose denim pants and an army t-shirt. In their appearance, this quartet created the impression of rich spoiled brats who somehow inexplicably ended up in this damn dangerous place from their small town.
As for their abilities, I must admit they were quite outstanding, but no more. By their age, truly great mages already reach a high level. The stylish guy was a mid-level wind mage of the third stage, and his energy clearly felt a spiritual seed, as well as a trace of shadow magic. The red-haired girl, surprisingly, possessed strong fire magic at about the same level with a seed; the second element was weakly distinguishable. The timid one was a mid-level water mage of the second stage, plus ice element at about the same level. The bodybuilder was not lagging behind the general mass with his mid-level earth element of the second stage and another incomprehensible element.
"What difference does it make who we are? You managed to seize the moment and kill our prey while it was fighting each other," the stylish guy smirked nonchalantly, showing no signs of remorse. So, they either didn't see the fight or thought they were enough to deal with me. Not that they were greatly mistaken; I would have had great trouble with their team, but I have my artifact. I should give it a name, as calling it an artifact all the time is annoying…
"Hey, are you even listening to us? What is a boy like you doing here with your girls?" the red-haired girl asked again, pulling me out of my thoughts. Okay, I'll name my artifact… Oh, I thought of a spiky turtle, a good name, so let it be so.
"What are you thinking? We killed these two scorpions ourselves!" Zhou Min interjected. "When we arrived, there was no hint that they had been fighting or that another group was hunting them!"
"Yes, what can you understand? Although you look older than that schoolgirl, not much older, how could you have enough strength to take down two true leaders with only three of you?" the stylish guy continued to smirk, and I, having named my artifact, returned my attention to them. So, they still didn't see the fight and came for the finished product?
"I'm not a schoolgirl! And brother is much stronger than all of you!" Jiaxing Er said, stepping forward, literally radiating anger and fury. If you think about it, her strength would also be enough to kill them all with the element of surprise.
"Calm down, Jiaxing Er, don't provoke them so much, maybe we can still negotiate peacefully," I said, pushing her back with my hand.
"So she's your sister? Interesting, what kind of brother would drag his sister to such a dangerous place when she only awakened her magic a year ago?" the red-haired girl asked with even more contempt. "It seems you are the main one, so is that hot-tempered one your girlfriend?"
"No," I said confidently, stopping Zhou Min with my other hand, who was about to pounce on the red-haired girl. "I think there's been a mistake, these are clearly not your scorpions; I killed them personally, and there were no traces of wounds on them before I started the fight. Before that, they also weren't fighting, but performing a mating dance. If you return to the city, buy a desert guide and find this type of scorpion there, you can learn more about it," I said calmly, still holding back my aura. Of course, revealing so much information to strangers is dangerous, but as long as they don't know my name, and my face is partially hidden by a cloth, it's not so bad.
"Hahaha! Did you hear that!" the stylish guy laughed. "He killed two true leaders himself, what absurdity."
"Yes, you're not even twenty years old, how can you possess enough strength?" the red-haired girl supported him. "Kan Guang, you personally checked, there are no other mages nearby, right?"
"Yes, however, when I conducted the check, I felt some strange points," said the bodybuilder, with a slightly worried look.
"Yes, that's exactly why we came here. We were looking for scorpions that escaped from us and found them here, right? Look, these bodies have the same cuts from wind blades that I left," said the stylish guy, looking at the bodybuilder, apparently named Kan Guang, with slight surprise.
"Yes, they do look similar," Kan Guang confirmed, putting his hand to his chin, lost in thought.
"I am also a mid-level wind mage, and I inflicted these wounds myself," I decided to remind them of my existence, looking piercingly at all four, slightly releasing my aura.
"Really? You're only at the first stage, how did you have the strength to do that?" the stylish guy smirked, apparently not releasing enough aura, as he didn't notice it at all, it seemed.
"Kan Fu, maybe he's telling the truth?" the timid blue-haired girl asked timidly, looking at me warily; it seemed to have affected her. Hmm, the guys have the same last name, I wonder if they are brothers or if it's just a coincidence?
"Yes, what are you saying, Meng Ji? Do you think this former schoolboy is capable of the same as Kan Fu?" the red-haired girl asked irritably.
"But… but… Yin Lan, aren't there geniuses who could do this? Maybe he's one of them?" the blue-haired girl tried to argue, fighting her fear and casting increasingly frightened glances at me.
"He's such a genius?" the red-haired girl Yin Lan asked with disdain, after which the gazes of all four turned to me.
"And are there any doubts about that?" I asked confidently and with a slight emphasis, looking into the eyes of all four in turn and releasing my aura by exactly half. I don't want Zhou Min to run away from me in fear; that would be very inconvenient.
"Perhaps you really are capable of that," said the stylish guy named Kan Fu, swallowing. "There's definitely a possibility these aren't our scorpions, but you don't have much proof," he tried to stand his ground, taking a step forward for emphasis.
"Do you want to test my strength? Do you have the guts to go one-on-one with me?" he said, slightly weakening his control over his aura. Fighting all four of them would be very difficult, but punishing one was entirely possible.
"Jiaxing Yun, they look pretty strong. Maybe we shouldn't get involved? Let's try to resolve this peacefully?" asked Zhou Min, finally recognizing the strength of the approaching group.
"It's fine, brother can handle them," Jiaxing Er declared confidently, with a strangely terrifying smile, the kind Asura constantly wore. Her calmness, strangely enough, was fully justified. Just a couple of months ago, I had killed mages of similar strength right before her eyes in mere seconds. How could anyone be afraid here?
"Who do you think you are! Do you think you can defeat me one-on-one?" Kan Fu raised his voice, trying to sound more confident, but it came out rather weakly.
"Kan Fu, test the kid. If he's really as strong as his wild aura suggests, then we'd better retreat," Yin Lan approached Kan Fu and whispered. I only managed to hear it thanks to my enhanced hearing, amplified by internal energy.
"Alright, I agree to fight you. Don't disappoint me!" Kan Fu grinned, taking a few steps forward, trying to appear as calm as possible.
"The fight has already begun. May I attack?" I asked, with a slight politeness in my voice.
"Yes, if you show some skill..." Kan Fu didn't finish before freezing in shock, unable to move.
Using the wind rush combined with wind boots, I was behind him in an instant, pressing a dagger to his throat. No, of course, he managed to track my movements; I'm not *that* fast. But that was all he could do. He couldn't even raise his hands to defend himself. His entire company froze, not daring to stir. The power I displayed had brought them to a new level of terror. Even without using the spiky turtle, and relying solely on this move, I could easily slit all their throats if I caught them off guard, and now I essentially had their leader hostage.
"So, did I win, or do we need to spill blood?" I inquired, pressing the dagger slightly against his neck.
"Let him go right now!" Yin Lan shouted with all her might, simultaneously creating a star map of the fire element.
"And you're not afraid of hitting him?" I asked in a cynical and cold voice. "Perhaps we should just part ways peacefully and not mention this incident?"
"Calm down, Yin Lan!" Kan Guang's commanding voice rang out. "You won. We're leaving. But may we know the name of a talent like you, and let my brother go."
"No, I don't think you should know it. As I said, we will all forget what we saw and heard here. This meeting never happened, it was just a strange mirage," I said, turning and kicking Kan Fu towards the other three. After all, they are brothers. I should look into the Kan family; it might be quite interesting.
"Alright, good hunting," Kan Guang said, approaching and grabbing Kan Fu by his shirt, dragging him away. Yin Lan shot us a displeased and angry look, but she left too.
"I apologize that my friends have disturbed you. Good hunting," said Meng Ji, hastily following everyone.
"B-r-r-r! That was so scary!" Zhou Min exhaled, falling to her knees once the group of bullies had gone quite far, disappearing behind a hill.
"And I thought you were the one who rushed into the fight first," Jiaxing Er teased her in a rather spiteful voice. "Brother, you're so cool!" Her voice completely changed to an enthusiastically affectionate tone as she rushed to hug me again.
"Yes, that was before I realized how strong they were!" Zhou Min exclaimed, lifting her head. "Damn it! You're clinging to brother again! Be careful he doesn't get arrested for a relationship with a minor relative!"
"Are you trying to get involved with him yourself?" Jiaxing Er asked disdainfully, peeling off me slightly and looking strangely at Zhou Min.