Ito Takeru's POV:
Once upon a time I was a slave sold on the streets of a country that no longer exists. There are many ways to become a slave. Poverty stricken families selling their children to stay afloat, criminals sentenced into slavery as punishment for their crimes. I, on the other hand, was born as a slave. My ancestors had been reduced to slaves and their social status had passed down the generations to me. I have served many masters growing up, but they always ended up selling me away after a month or two. For some unknown reason, I would occasionally have sudden uncontrollable outbursts that leave my surroundings devastated. Normally, the slave collars they use to restrain us would be able to stop any such acts of violence, but I would be left unconscious and unresponsive to the pain during these outbursts of mine, making the collar useless. It was just not worth the trouble of keeping a slave who destroyed more than he was worth.
Then one day I met him.
"Hey, what's with that sad face! Lighten up, my guy!"
His name was Yang Xing, a dragonewt from the 3rd continent. He bought me on a whim as he wanted some help on his tour of the 2nd continent. We got into all manner of nonsense as the man seemed unable to keep himself out of trouble. He would unknowingly wander into the den of magical beasts while looking for a place to set up camp. He would get into fights with gangs, criminal organizations and corrupt nobility over the smallest things. He would even risk his own life to save a lowly slave like me.
Unlike all the people I had met in the past, Xing did not treat me like an inferior for being a slave, nor did he treat me like a monster after experiencing my outbursts, but he would always treat me like a friend. It was a first for me, since even the other slaves would back away upon witnessing my rampages.
Through our adventures we eventually discovered what the cause of my condition was. Apparently, I possessed one of the nine extreme physiques, known as the extreme earth physique. The extreme physiques are amongst the rarest physiques known to man, that only appear once a century, which was why none of my previous owners recognized it. Those born with this particular physique will have an overabundance of qi belonging to a specific element, while also passively absorbing more qi into their body from their environment.
To cultivators, being born with one of these physiques might seem like a blessing from the heavens as it would let them leap through the stages of cultivation at incredible speeds, but there is always a price for such shortcuts. One such price is that you will be born with no aptitude for any other element, meaning you can only cultivate one type of qi. Another downside is what happens when your body can't keep up with the ever-growing mass of qi inside your body. In my case, the energy ended up exploding out of my body, destroying everything in my vicinity. If not for Xing's help in finding a medicine that could suppress my physique's ability to absorb qi, I would have eventually died from one of those outbursts.
With my outburst under control, I could finally live without fear of hurting those around me as we continued our journey. However, all good things have to come to an end.
"Welp! See ya!"
As our journey came to an end, Xing returned to the 3rd martial continent after giving me the freedom that I had been robbed of from birth. No longer a slave, and my outbursts under control, I was unable to decide on my next course of action. I mostly just wondered about the continent searching for a new purpose, until I met her, Ito Hana. She was the strong-willed lady from the upper class who had run away from home to escape an arranged marriage. At first, I had helped her escape her family's pursuit because it was what Xing would have done in this situation, but as time passed, we fell in love. Eventually, I became one of the top cultivators on the continent as my cultivation was still rapidly progressing even with my physique suppressed. Once my power was made public, we no longer had to stay hidden as no one would dare offend a top expert like me. I was eventually offered a position of power over a mountainous region where I established the flourishing city named after my wife's favorite food, Strawberry City'. Unfortunately, due to an error in the paperwork, it became shortened to 'Straw City'. I got married to Hana soon after and took her surname, becoming Ito Takeru, the city lord of Straw.
Things were good until the misfortune struck. Xing's family had suddenly appeared at my doorstep bloodied and tattered, seeking shelter after being chased out of the 3rd continent. My once energetic and optimistic friend looked like a husk of his former self as he stared at me with those empty eyes. Remembering the kindness he had shown me in the past I gave them some land in the most secluded parts of the mountain range along with some of my best men as security to help ward off their pursuers. However, I was underestimating the extent of the trouble that came with that decision.
"AAAHHHH!"
*BOOOM*
Death and carnage. It seemed like the people they had offended were backing an enemy nation that demanded I hand them over, but I refused. It escalated into a full-fledged war we had no hope of winning. I lost many good men fighting a losing battle, but we somehow survived at the cost of bending the knee to an emerging superpower, the Dark Empire. With the war finally over, I returned to my home only to find my wife had passed away while giving birth to our daughter Hikari.
The man who changed my life was left a broken shell of his former self, and now the woman whom I had devoted my life to was gone. It felt like the world that once seemed so bright had started crumbling into dust as the darkness threatened to consume the last flickers of the light that remained.
"My adorable Hikari."
Hana's final message to me was to protect our daughter, but an evil creature started appearing around my sweet child. It was a creature made entirely of mud, that kept appearing around the mansion as it chased after my infant daughter. Even when I destroyed its body it would eventually reappear. While looking for answers I discovered that the creature was some type of undead. A monster created from the malice the dead have towards the living. It had likely appeared as a result of all those who had died in the war, seeking to take revenge on me by taking away the thing I love most. Fearing for my daughter's safety I invited a monk to come exorcise it. However.
"AAAAAAAHHHHBLBLbl!"
The creature consumed the monk whole as it forced itself down the poor man's throat, suffocating him. Having no other option, I confined my daughter to a room far away from any dirt, as the creature could not manifest a body without it. However, …
"CITY LORD! THE YOUNG LADY HAS DISAPPEARED!"
There had been a sudden call for reinforcements from the Yang estate, as an intruder had managed to break through the restricted zone. Fearing the worst I had sent whatever manpower I could spare to rush to their aid, but it had come at the cost of decreased security around my daughter's room.
Fortunately, it was not as bad as I feared, as I soon received a ransom note from her kidnappers. I didn't have the time to wait for the allotted time of the exchange as the creature could appear at any moment to devour my daughter. So, I had my men track down the kidnappers hide out and prepared to launch a high-risk rescue operation. However, …
*High pitched scream*
"Look where you swing that thing asshole!"
In fear of the mission getting compromised, I had rushed to conclusions and nearly cleaved my own daughter in half, as we skewered the lady holding her. She was a silver haired dragonewt wearing a white, porcelain mask. She was holding Hikari in her arms like a baby as she shielded her from our blades that were plunged deep into her body.
"*sob* Daddy?" Hikari said, with tears flowing down her cheek as she looked at me with a fearful expression.
"Hikari!"
Wanting to hold her safely in my arms, I reached out a hand to grab her, only for the woman holding her to push me back with the handle of my own weapon which was sticking out of her arm.
"You mind not scaring the kid? She just stopped crying!"
"WHO ARE YOU?"
"UNHAND THE YOUNG LADY!" My men shouted.
"Hey kid! Do me a favor and close your eyes again!" The woman asked Hikari.
"*sniffle* Okey!" My daughter replied as she put her little hands over her eyes.
"WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING? HAND HER OVER BEFORE WE-!"
*Squelch*
"Shut your trap!" She said as she dropped the severed jaw of the soldier on the ground.
I couldn't even see her move, but in an instant, the soldier who was trying to apprehend her suddenly lost his jaw mid-sentence the moment he touched her.
*Gargled screaming*
"I said shut it!"
*Bang*
*Swoosh*
As the man dropped to his knees to let out a scream of pain, she kicked him so hard he flew out of the cave.
"I promised the kid I'd take her home! So, get lost or else!" She said as her eyes staired us down.
"Can I open my eyes yet?" Hikari asked.
"No, not just yet! Sorry! Just go to sleep! When you wake up, this tall lady will have made all the naughty guys disappear!" She said, as she knocked Hikari unconscious with a flick of her fingers.
*Light snoring*
"Good girl! Now, who wants to die next?" She said, before turning her gaze back to us.
I don't know what it is, but my instincts are blaring with danger signals. I don't think it would be wise to provoke her any more than we already have.
"YOU THINK WE ARE AFRAID OF YOU!" My second in command shouted, clearly feeling the same as I could spot the nervous twitching his eyebrow does when he's afraid.
"I know you are! Yusuke!"
"How do you know my name?" They said in perfect unison.
"I know lots of things! I know your names! Where you live! I even know what you are all thinking, and yes, these are real antlers Yamato!" She said as she turned to look at the man in question.
"How did you know I was thinking that! Stop copying me! Stop it!" They said in unison.
The entire group started becoming unsettled as we backed away from the creepy lady. She should be severely injured if not dying from her wounds, yet she hasn't shown any signs to indicate she was.
"If you can read our minds then you know why we are here!" I said, as I stepped forwards.
"Sure, I do, wife beater! You want to ground the kid cause you're afraid of the mud lady!"
"Mud lady? So, you are aware of that accursed creature? If you understand then you know we can't dawdle here! That foul monster might appear at any second! We don't have a moment to lose!"
"Oof! That's some harsh words! Anyways, the mud lady won't show up as long as I'm around so calm your moobs!"
"What?!"
Before I could fully process her words, one of the men who had rushed further into the cave when we lunged at this woman, returned with a pale expression.
"SIR! I-I think you might want to see this!" He said.
I looked over at the woman holding my child in her arms.
"Go on! Take a look! I ain't going anywhere!" She said as she gestured for me to go.
I ordered most of the people present to stay behind to guard Hikari and the woman in case the creature appeared, before I followed my subordinate into the cave.
*Gasp*
There were no words to describe the horrific sight that stood before me. What I suspect were the bodies of the kidnappers had been mutilated beyond recognition. I saw a man who had been skewered to a wall, his entrails organs nailed to the walls like decorations. I saw a man who had been turned into a chair. His thighs had been fused together to make the seat while his femurs had been partially ripped out to be used as the back legs of the chair. His torso had been opened emptied out aside from two inflated pairs of lungs that had been squeezed inside to make the back support. His head had been cut from his neck, as blood could be seen running down his body. There was a man who looked like his body had been twisted like a towel. His twisted and stretched out face making a horrific expression of pain. The final two were a body that had been shoved into another body. The limbs of the body inside of the corpse had been folded together before being squeezed inside the emptied chest.
"S-Sir! There are more inside!" The pale man said, pointing at the door where I saw two of my soldiers exit only to vomit in disgust at what laid beyond this room.
"I think I have seen enough! Collect their possessions along with their bodies! Then destroy this place! Once we get back, have a monk cleanse their corpse before cremating their bodies!" I said as I hurried out of the cave.
I exited the cave to find Hikari resting peacefully on that woman's lap as she stroked her head. My men were lying on the ground around them, unconscious.
"What do you want?"
"I already told you! I want to get this kid home!"
"Why?"
"Sympathy!"
I've seen a lot of sickos over the course of my life, so I know a deranged person when I see one, and while I wouldn't call her sane, she is clearly pretending to be worse than she is. The scene was relatively clean, with no signs of a struggle. No hints of a fight and they all had a hole in their dantien and a cut in their throats. They died long before their bodies were mangled like that. If she was deriving pleasure from this, she would have taken her time killing them instead of finishing them off right away. It was also way too diverse, like it was done by multiple people. Like someone had copied different murder scenes and mixed them into one room.
"Why don't you stop overanalyzing and get to the question you've want to ask me?" She said snapping me out of my thoughts.
"You mentioned earlier that the creature won't appear in your presence! Is it true?"
"Yep?"