Chapter 332 XI’s Principals

[Soul Bead: 247/800]

XI stood amongst the dead goblins and sighed.

'They're all weak. The kid could even handle this large of a group on his own.' XI thought as they turned their attention forward. A group of tired adventurers were staring at her. They were about forty feet from each other.

"What the fuck happened here?" A large male adventurer asked.

"Identify yourself! Are you friend or foe?" A brunette woman with semi-curled hair that stopped past her neck. She was standing in the front of the group as her other teammates watched XI Lee Seng.

"Friend or foe?" XI repeated the question. "I killed all of these goblins and you question if I'm a foe? Are we really foes?" XI stepped over the bodies of the dead goblins and came closer into view. XI Lee Seng's fox ears twitched and the large man and a tall woman moved forward, blocking the brunette woman in a protective stance.

"Those ears! He must be at least a B-rank!" The woman shouted.

"B-rank?" XI looked at their left hand. "He may be a B-rank in terms of power, but in terms of experience, he's mid-C tier. I, on the other hand, am at least an A-rank. I easily got rid of the Shadow monster. They thought they could kill us? Ha, a joke."

"Who are you referring to? There's only you, sentient!" The man shouted. XI tilted their head and bit their lip.

"I, him, and the other one. That's who I refer to." XI blinked forward in front of them and smiled as they reacted in defense. Their weapons and attacks bounced off of the invisible shield and XI's smile slowly fell.

"You are humans. He is a human, too, so I will not kill you." XI told them. "But, it doesn't mean I can't show you the difference in our power." XI blinked away and reappeared back in their original place. XI Lee Seng lifted their right hand up and a small condensed gray-black energy swirled into existence. "I'm sad he can't use this power to its potential. He's stuck living two different lives."

"What are you going on about, sentient? You threaten us and block our attacks like nothing! You're a threat to humankind!" The brunette shouted. "Formations! We'll take this one out!"

"Take me out? He is one of you. You cannot harm one that looks like you!"

"You are not us! Attack!" The brunette woman pointed. The brunette woman pulled her gun out as the tall slim man behind her pulled his bow out and readied it. The large man in heavy armor and the tall slim woman ran forward.

"I will indulge myself enough." XI released the small cosmic energy from their hands and shot it straight at the Tank. The cosmic energy fired, piercing straight through the Tank's armor like a shotgun. Blood poured out from the Tank, who instantly dropped.

"You're gonna die!" The slim woman shouted as she swung her longsword at XI. XI watched as the sword impacted with the shield. The slim woman's sword then cut through the shield, fizzling with energy as XI felt blood spilling from its chest.

"Hmm, she managed to break through the Gravity Shield." XI casually commented, surprised. The slim woman moved in for another strike forcing XI to jump backwards. The sound of gunshots and arrows fired.

"Annoying tactics. I know this one." XI shoved their right hand into the air and watched as the Slim woman was released backwards. The bullets and arrows shattered into tiny pieces as XI hovered just above a dead goblin body. "He would be mad that I would kill humans, but you started the fight first. Maybe I'll scare you enough that you won't do such a thing again. Gravitum: Cosmic Ray." Silver, gold and black rays fired out around XI. XI watched as the Cosmic Rays pierced the three adventurers. XI continued to fire Cosmic Rays in non-lethal spots, spilling their blood.

"Such a shame, but I must stop for his sake." XI raised their hand and the Cosmic Rays stopped.

"You monster…!" The Tank grunted. He was slowly getting up and XI was getting bored of this. "You're going to let us go? We'll just… Come back with more… People!"

"Oh? What if I told you he's protected by the same people? By your people who gave you these… Gifts?" XI asked.

"Why do you speak in riddles, monster?" The brunette woman shouted. Blood poured out of her wounds. She didn't look like she would last that much longer to XI. "We will make sure you are dealt with… Even if we have to die!"

"Die?" XI raised a finger as silver, gold and black energy swirled into existence. "If the human says they want to die, I can do what I want, yes?" XI pointed their finger at the brunette woman.

"No…!" The tank shouted as XI let go of the single Cosmic Ray. The Tank shifted backwards and grunted as the Cosmic Ray flew straight through his chest.

"Barry!" The brunette woman shouted.

"We have… get out… now!" The archer told the brunette woman.

"Tyler's right, Lisa! We have to leave!" The slim woman shouted.

"I guess I've overdone it. I need to find that ring." A cosmic gate opened behind XI as they turned.

"You bastard! I'll hunt you down and kill you myself!" The brunette woman, Lisa, screamed. "Even if I die!"

"I have no interest in humans." XI waved her off. "If you know about the Failed Ones then I'm interested in you." XI stepped into the portal as Lisa fired off gunshots. The portal closed as she cried. Barry was in a lethal state because of her.

"Lisa." The slim woman grabbed her. "We have to get back, quickly. Let's get healed at the 6th Floor."

"They don't have enough supplies, remember?" The Archer reminded them. "We have to go all the way to the Fourth Floor, at least!"

"Support, find us the nearest place to get healed that has supplies!" The slim woman requested.

"Got it!" Support answered. "It looks like Fourth can temporarily only stop Barry from being in the lethal zone. You'll have to go to Third if you really want full treatment for everyone."

"Shit, let's go!" The archer stood up and grabbed Barry. The slim woman grabbed Barry's other side and looked at Lisa.

"Lisa, lets save Barry and ourselves now and worry about that high ranking monster later!" The slim woman shouted.

XI moved out of the cosmic portal. They looked at the steps leading up and sighed.

"Humans are so hard to understand. I don't know why he even wants to stay one. If he embraced all of me and not that Fox, he could have all of this power." XI shook their heads in disappointment. The blinked up to the floor above. It had a metal plate that told XI where they were.

[SIXTH FLOOR]

"I'm only here for answers about the Failed Ones. That Shadow was definitely one of them. I wonder where the Failed Ones are coming from…" XI turned to look back at staircase. "I shouldn't care about humans. It's not my problem. I should figure out if I can find some more Failed Ones like that Shadow." XI blinked out of existence.

XI appeared back where they had portaled out and noticed the team was gone. XI sighed as they followed moved to touch the blood.

"Find them." XI ordered. Cosmic energy rushed out of their back and flew off. "You would want me to do this for your conscience. I only do it for you because if I'm good enough, you'll accept me over the Fox." XI gave an excuse. The limited interactions XI had with Lee Seng was hostile. They grew stronger with each passing day and yet their Host had the audacity to supress them, bend their power to his will.

XI knew it would be useless to fully fight the Host and their Fox Spirit, so XI had willingly made that bet with them. XI gave Lee Seng enough information to get them curious about the Failed Ones. It was slowly sinking into his brain and with enough time, XI and the Host could figure out what they were.

XI had silently agreed to certain principals because of this.

1. Figure out what XI and the Host is.

2. Do not kill humans. The Host will keep you under their control even more, stopping you and the Host from figuring out #1.

3. His friends and the Fox were off limits. Even if they annoyed them.

4. XI wouldn't forcefully take over unless they had naturally progressed and came out from the Host, themselves. This meant XI wouldn't force transformations, but rather let the Host make the decision.

XI kept to these four principals and thought they would do really well. The cosmic energy had found the injured group and XI sighed.

"Come on! We just need to get to the Third floor!" The Archer reminded the group. XI waved their hands over the group and the cosmic energy circled around them.

"What the hell is this?" Lisa asked. XI blinked in front of them and sighed. "You! I knew you would come back you bastard!" Lisa fired at XI. The bullets redirected off to the sides of XI as XI watched the cosmic energy circle around them.

"Maybe I'll just make it so you don't remember. Gravitum: Cosmic Influence." XI watched as the humans went slack, dropping onto the floor. "Gravitum: Cosmic Portal." XI washed the portal over the unconscious group and watched the portal close. "Now that that's over, let's continue." XI turned and stepped into a portal and disappeared.