Sam nodded, and watched the woman teleport to the ground, before vanishing from sight as she stepped between two tents. He followed her trajectory, and felt a thin membrane part around him. Light flooded his vision, and he found himself standing in the middle of a campsite far larger than the few tents that he had noticed before. A pillar of light extended from the center up about twenty feet, sending waves of warmth across the rows of tents there. Sam soon saw why a moment later, spotting a few F Rankers sparring on the other side of the encampment.
There was a whoosh of air, and before he could say anything, five other E Rankers surrounded him, holding their weapons. Sam frowned. “I thought I was welcome here?” He asked, spotting the woman who had greeted him among their number.
“If you are who you say. Let Miranda scan your soul, and we can proceed.” In response to this, one of the E Rankers thrust her hand forward, a spike of light shooting off its end. It seemed that the invitation had simply been a courtesy. Given that the fighters surrounding him were at average, level 200, save for the one who had met him, they clearly expected him to give in to their questioning.
With a sigh, more for dramatic effect than anything else, Sam raised his left palm, a shield of Dao energy forming before it. Then, with a sharp flick of his wrist, he blasted the shard of light apart with consummate ease. A moment later, he was standing outside of the ring of warriors, teleporting faster than they could react.
“One chance. I will not negotiate from a position of weakness,” Sam declared. “The representative who met me treated me with respect, not as a criminal to be interrogated.”
Miranda glared at him. “Make this easier for yourself, won’t you? We are all many levels your senior.”
To punctuate this point, three of the E Rankers teleported towards him, but to Sam’s sight, the formation of their portals was so slow that he already knew where they were arriving. He shrunk his hammer, clipping it to his armor, and took a step forward, his fist blessing forwards to meet the nearest E Ranker as he stepped out of his portal. To anyone else, the portal would have been invisible, but teleportation only worked as fast as the user’s thoughts.
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His fist slammed into the armored warrior’s gut, sending him flying up into the air. Another teleport took him above the man’s flight path, and a powerful ax kick sent him hurtling down, impacting another teleporting fighter, knocking them both to the ground. The third raised her bow and took aim at Sam, the bowstring taught with the strength of an E Ranker behind it. With a rattling boom, she loosed her arrow, its head glowing white as it lanced through the sky. The elemental energy of Order limned its form, steering it towards Sam unerringly.
He barked out a laugh, and snatched it from the air, before sending it shooting back towards his assailant, a comet’s tail of Dao energy trailing behind it. The woman’s eyes widened, and she desperately teleported, just before the arrow drilled into the ground. Sam made sure to keep the Dao energy surrounding it in check, not wanting to seriously injure his foes.
A few seconds later, it detonated deep underground, an earthquake shaking the camp. The tents flapped as the ground buckled, and the lower level fighters scattered.
“Again, I mean you no harm!” Sam shouted. “I am an ally, believe it or not. If I wasn’t, I would have already killed you.”
“Why won’t you let me determine that for myself?” Miranda shouted from a safe distance, only to find that there was no such thing, as Sam teleported to her, grabbing her by the neck. He teleported high into the air, and let her dangle there.
“You might be an E Ranker, but can you really survive a fall when I throw you down myself?” Sam asked, before triggering a sliver of Dao Juggernaut’s power. His muscles bulged, and he raised the woman above his head. She struggled desperately, but he ignored it, instead locking down space around her.
“Wait!” She screamed. “I believe you! I believe you!”
Sam smiled. “That wasn’t so hard, was it now?” He teleported back to the ground, letting Miranda go. She raised a hand, waving at the others to back off. Sam stood there, watching them carefully.
“It looks like we got off on the wrong foot,” he stated. “How about we all forget about that misunderstanding?”
Miranda sighed. “Alright. I accept what you said. You really could have killed us all, and with quite some ease, if I am judging your strength properly. Yet you are only a low E Ranker in level. What are you?”
“I’ve been asked that question quite often,” Sam said with a grin. “And the answer is the same as it always has been. I’m just a man, with a bit of luck, and a lot of determination.”
