The Legendary F Rank

Note: *" Text like this."* means that Haru doesn't understand what they are saying.

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Marco ran away into the distance with so much speed that it was more like he had just vanished into thin air as the white cat appeared slightly in the distance.

"Thorin Gak Tonsa mo." The white cat said in a strange language before bringing a paw up to their head as they walked closer to Haru and Hong Xia who had stayed behind as Marco ran away.

Although the white cat had originally thrown their claws towards Marco it seemed like their only goal was to injure him and not either of the humans that had made it deep into the forest.

The white cat hesitantly walked towards Haru and Hong Xia as they awaited its next move. They didn't know if the cat was a friend or foe but Marco's warning seemed to be more of a personal warning than one that the other two should have been concerned with.

"Tsk, men… You can't leave them alone for  a second before they get ideas about womanising and whispering lies in order to get their own way." The white cat said in a feminine voice with the same accent that Marco had as she looked up at the two humans before reaching down to pick up the claws that Marco had dropped when he had seen her behind him.

"I'm sorry?" Haru asked as he was a little bit confused as to what she meant but Hong Xia seemed to have understood and bowed her head slightly.

"I don't know what that was about. As soon as he saw me he said that he dedicate his life to being by my side. It was kind of creepy." Hong Xia said as the white cat sighed again.

"Sorry about that. He does things like that every now and again. I'm Marco's sister Shiba. It's nice to meet you. But if you don't mind me asking… What brings two humans into our territory? Usually, instincts will prevent anyone from coming here alone yet you two clearly ignored the barriers affects and carried on towards our home." The white cat said as she introduced herself to the two humans before her.

"Oh, it was nothing much. I just had a run-in with your brother earlier today when he killed someone I was interrogating. He left one of his claws behind and I managed to track him down to give it to him." Haru said as he looked down at the cat that was now putting her claws back into position on her left paw.

"Oh? Did you run into him while on a mission? That must be a pretty hard blow for him." Shiba said as she licked her paw for a moment and then looked up to see the confused look on Haru's face.

"Well, the league prides themselves on never being seen during missions that is why we have managed to live here in the woods for so long without human persecution. I bet he's feeling pretty stupid now that you managed to track him down and possibly endanger the lives of our people." Shiba said as felt distrust seeping through her voice as she looked at him.

"Oh, I can assure you that we don't have any intention to expose you or endanger your people. I was merely curious as to what I saw. I believe I encountered one of your people at the edge of the forest a few days ago when I was hunting rabbits." Haru stated that he wanted to show that he wasn't a threat to them. 

"Well, they do say that curiosity killed the cat, don't they. I guess the saying goes for humans too." Shiba said as suddenly Haru felt as though he was on the losing end of a battle. All around him he heard the rustling of leaves and felt the presence of dozens of beings, seemingly similar in height to the two cat people he had met so far.

"What is this!? What's going on?" Hong Xia asked as Shiba cracked a smile.

"Well, now that you have discovered our existence we can't just simply let you go. You can either put up a fight and we will kill you here and now. Or you can come quietly and let the village elders decide your fate. That way you might get a chance to leave. Although I doubt it." The white cat announced as she displayed her claws to which Haru looked around to see around thirty to forty cats lining the trees as they all stared eagerly and some of them had blowpipes aimed at the two of them.

"Haru! What do we do!?" Hong Xia asked in a panicked voice as she expected Haru to do something to get them out of there as fast as he could, so it came as a surprise when he raised his hands above his head and got down on both of his knees.

"Then take us to your elders," Haru said Hong Xia looked at him in fear of how their stroll in the forest had turned. She knew that it was dangerous to go with him. But she didn't expect that they would be put in a situation where even Haru had no choice but to surrender. She too raised her hands and sat on her knees before feeling the presence of something behind her as her hands were tied behind her back.

'Well, this is getting interesting.' Haru thought as he too had his hands tied up. He wriggled his wrists a little and felt that the material that his hands were tied with had a bit of flex to them. 'They're going to need something a little stronger than this to hold me. But I guess they weren't expecting that someone with my physical strength would come here. All that training didn't go to waste.' He almost chuckled as all the physical training he did when he was first beginning his journey of cultivation only amplified the amount of raw strength that he would gain after each breakthrough.

Haru and Hong Xia were then marched to a small village with a few wooden huts scattered around a river with a bridge that went over the top of it.

Suddenly they were surrounded even more as all the cat people in the village came out to watch as for most of them it was the first time they were seeing humans. A lot of the children watched in awe as Shiba led the army of cats that had restrained Haru and Hong Xia before stopping at the foot of a staircase that lead to a house that was much bigger than the rest and seemed to be located so it could look over all the other houses.

"Wait here. I will fetch the elders." Shiba said as one of the cats kicked Hong Xia in the back of her legs, causing her to fall back down onto her knees to await their judgement. One of them also tried to do the same to Haru but as he felt the impact against his leg he tensed up and turned around to see the cat that he towered overlooked back up at him with fear in their eyes.

"Should I kneel down too?" Haru asked as the cat person took a few steps back after seeing that their kick wasn't effective in the slightest before slowly nodding their head.

"Well, all you had to do was ask. I guess nobody taught you manners did they?" Haru said with a sigh as a lot of murmurs from the locals could be heard as they spoke in a language that neither of them could understand.

*"Mom, what are the guards doing bringing those creatures here? They look really scary."* One of the children asked in their strange language as Haru and Hong Xia continued to wait for the elders.

*"It will be okay my boy. The guards have everything under control. You have nothing to fear. If they get too lively our dart-men will put them to sleep."* The child's mother responded in a caring tone while pulling her son closer to her and watching together as the guards were talking among themselves about what was going to happen.

The last humans that had entered their territory had put up a fight and were killed before ever making it to the village but the rules stated that if they surrendered then their fate would be decided by the elders but something like that had never happened before until right now.

A lot of them were questioning if they were going to be released right away. Or if they would be forced to work in the mines along with the other species that had ventured too close to their homes.

Haru closed his eyes and began to cultivate while waiting for the elders. The Qi that was gathered in the village was much purer than it was in the nearby town.

The fact that there were no cultivators nearby to absorb the Qi made the wildlife thrive and there were dozens of wildflowers and spirit herbs growing nearby that he could sense radiating Qi all around him.

It would be the perfect place to try to break through. Everything was triangle once he managed to filter out the chatter of the locals and the movement of the river slightly behind them became more noticeable as it trickled through rocks that stuck out slightly above the water.

'This place is gorgeous.' Haru thought as his soul left his body and began to float around the area, giving him time to take in the scenery while observing his surroundings from all angles.

"The Qi is so thick here that being in astral form doesn't take a strain on my dantian. It feels like I could float around like this all day." Haru thought as he flew up into the sky and looked down to observe the situation before looking towards the large building where he saw the door now opening.

Only silence followed as the guards puffed up their chests and the other cat people got down upon one knee at the sight of the open door.

Haru opened his eyes, causing his consciousness to snap back into his body and awaited his fate as three hooded figures with robes much like Marco's stepped out from the building with Shiba slightly behind them before she spoke.

"As you can see, here are the two trespassers," Shiba said with a smug look as red glowing eyes poked out from beneath each of the elders' hoods as they stared at both Haru and Hong Xia intensely for a few moments before one of them broke the silence