The First Peak of the Force

by Yuri Ajin

  In order to get to safety, he’d have to leap back, causing the distance between him and the Fruit to increase again. But he couldn’t allow that. Instead, he rushed toward the Fruit again. Having learned from his mistake, this time, he moved slower, paying more attention to the raging beasts. But there was no time to hesitate — Rune’Tan’s technique wouldn’t last forever. Very soon, the beasts would come to their senses, so he had to act quickly.

  He was getting closer and closer to the Fruit, but at some point, the Tiger got tired of attacking the enemy it couldn’t see or smell. Mind clouded by pain, it stopped throwing balls of energy in random directions. Snarling, it lowered to the ground, like a cat ready to pounce. Dozens, if not hundreds, of lightning bolts rose from its fur, spreading in a large circle around it.

  Fortunately, Kai noticed the change in the flow of the Tiger’s ki and prepared himself for the attack. He slowed down again but didn’t stop. With his energy vision, he could see where the next lightning bolt would strike. And although they were fast, he was faster.

  Dodging, he continued to move toward his goal. Running in a zigzag, he watched the lightning pass him by. A loud roar broke through the air, spreading for miles into the depths of the Far Wasteland.

  I’m almost there! Kai thought when the writhing Serpent appeared in the way of the Tiger’s attack. Several lightning bolts immediately hit the huge reptile, sizzling the obsidian scales. They did little harm to the beast, but they slightly cleared its mind. The Serpent immediately fought back. A greenish mist seeped out of its open mouth and covered the area of a couple of hundred feet in front of it in the blink of an eye.

  Filling his body with ki and pouring some into his feet, Kai picked up his pace. Having created a makeshift shield using Repulsion Force, he barely managed to get out of the poisonous cloud, leaving everything else behind him.

  He wasn’t worried about the Fruit. After all, poison could hardly damage a Royal-rank Plant. The same couldn’t be said about himself however. Terrible burns appeared in places where his skin had come in contact with the poison. The Forces that the Serpent wielded were slightly above his own.

  Luckily, he could regenerate so he didn’t have to worry too much. It’d take it some time to heal the wounds, but he’d pull through. He didn’t dare imagine what would’ve happened to him if he hadn’t escaped. Lightning bolts continued to explode behind him, lifting waves of rock and dirt into the air.

  Moving away from the slowly growing cloud, Kai gritted his teeth. The effect of Soul Storm grew weaker, and he still hadn’t obtained the Fruit. He had to do something about the green cloud as soon as possible, but he couldn’t just blindly throw himself into it. He didn’t have the necessary protection nor did he know how long it’d take him to harvest the Fruit. His regeneration might not be enough to save him — he needed a plan B.

  Looking up, he got an idea.

  ***

  It had been about a minute since the Serpent exhaled the poisonous cloud. For some, this might’ve seemed like a short period of time, but for others, especially those whose life hung in balance, it was an eternity.

  The fog was still hanging over the clearing, hiding the battle raging behind it from prying eyes. The two beasts had recovered enough to continue fighting. Their souls and energy were still off balance so their senses and powers were yet to return.

  The hail of lightning stopped, having been replaced by powerful rays of electricity that’d occasionally shoot out from the fog. Soon, they, too, came to a halt. The furious roaring died down. Silence covered the clearing. Time seemed to have stopped.

  The imaginary peace was broken when a small figure flew out of the fog and collided with a tree.

  Naked, covered in blood, without hair, and with many cuts and burns, Kai was smiling happily. His body was beaten and poisoned, but his heart was full of joy. With trembling fingers, he stroked the intact Ring, inside which his salvation finally rested.

  His body was slowly recovering and getting rid of the poison. He had succeeded. The idea of charging the stones with ki, and then running on them directly to where the Fruit was had saved him a lot of time. His gut told him that if he had continued to save ki and stay on the ground at the moment when the Serpent breathed out the poison, he would’ve probably been dead by now.

  He thanked the Heavens that the beasts were too busy with each other and that the fog and Soul Storm had bought him enough time to get to the Fruit before them. In the end, his biggest issue turned out to be removing the Thunder Cage. Fortunately, thanks to Rune’Tan, the Tiger’s will weakened along with its soul, which allowed Kai to dispel the technique.

  Greedily inhaling clean air and wincing from the pain that finally hit him, Kai turned his head toward the fog. Absorbing as much prana from the air as possible, he directed all of it toward healing, and sat down to see who the winner would be. He hadn’t gotten the chance to see who was winning while he was running. The fog, luckily, didn’t prove to be an obstacle for his energy vision.

  Once everything calmed down and the dust settled, Kai narrowed his eyes and focused his attention on the two frozen silhouettes. He thought he knew who the winner would be when the Tiger let out a roar, releasing a wave of electricity. Forming a sphere around its wielder, it chased away the fog in an instant and incinerated numerous trees.

  Kai could again see the whole battlefield.

  The Tiger stood in the center, motionless. Having unleashed too much power too quickly, it had left itself without strength. The Serpent was twitching, wrapped around it. A wave of lightning passed through its body, damaging its internal organs and nervous system. But the reptile was still very much alive.

  The startled Tiger growled. It looked really bad. Having absorbed a colossal amount of poison, some of which was neutralized by the lightning, it could barely stand. The beautiful silver fur was now riddled with patches of burnt skin and sullied with blood and dirt. However, despite the wounds from which it was bleeding profusely, it was refusing to die. Under the pressure of the Serpent’s embrace, its bones were breaking, tissue tearing, and organs popping like grapes. It was a matter of time before it would drop dead.

  Realizing that the last attack wasn’t enough to throw the Serpent off, the Tiger knew what had to be done. Its enemy’s blood was even more poisonous than the fog, but there was no other choice. With the last bit of its strength, it sank its teeth into the Serpent’s body.

  The reptile hissed, wriggled, beat the ground with its tail, squeezed the Tiger harder, but nothing helped. A second later, its head was torn off and spat out onto the ground.

  The Tiger trembled, spitting blood, fangs, and chunks of flesh out of its wounded mouth. The Serpent’s blood destroyed its tongue and gums. It tried to howl to ease the pain, but it failed. The poison went deeper, damaging its throat. Even after death, the Serpent refused to let it out of its grip.

  Overcoming the pain, the Tiger began to move. It could still survive if it could get rid of the poison and the carcass coiled around it. It just needed to begin the transition to the next level, in which the Fruit, for which it had fought so zealously, would be of great assistance. To its misfortune and horror, the Tiger found out that its prize was nowhere to be found. However, the Cage was still there, which meant that the Fruit couldn’t have moved on its own.

  At that moment, Kai realized that he hadn’t risked his life in vain. Even with one foot in the grave, the Tiger posed a dangerous threat. Even in this state, it was faster and stronger than any member of any Clan. There was too much difference between humans and beasts.

  Kai had recovered enough to be able to run even further. He watched the Tiger run around the battle-torn clearing for several minutes. Unfortunately, it couldn’t find any traces of the thief or remnants of the Fruit’s aura. A couple of minutes later, the beast collapsed to the ground. Its heart had stopped beating, and its ki began to leave its mortal shell as soon as the monster’s soul disappeared.

  Kai breathed a sigh of relief. It was
finally over.

  A few minutes later, he got up again. His skin had completely recovered, and there was even some hair on his head. Dressed in the robes of the Thunder Serpent Clan that he took out from his Ring, Kai slowly hobbled over to the recent battlefield. There was still poison in his body, but it was fighting it. He was still weak, so he walked slowly.

  He wanted to harvest the beasts for materials — primarily, their Energy Crystals. In addition to them, the corpses should contain other very valuable ingredients such as bones, fangs, skin and scales, venom, and internal organs. All of this was sought out by alchemists who could use these materials to make all sorts of potions and tonics. He didn’t want to miss the opportunity to earn some coin.

  Getting close to the Tiger’s corpse, he felt the presence of several powerful auras. They were approaching the clearing at an incredible speed. Not wishing to be found in his current state, Kai hurried to pick up at least its Crystals when several arrows pierced his arms and legs, nailing him to the ground.

  Whoever had shot him couldn’t expect that Kai, an inner-circle student, would be able to resist the sleeping poison that the arrowheads had been coated with. The Serpent’s poison had helped increase his resistance. And there was also his bloodline, which immediately began to fight any poison that entered his body.

  Kai got up and quickly pulled out the arrows. Leaving the tips or the shafts in would’ve stopped the bleeding if he didn’t have regeneration. By leaving them in, he risked the metal fusing with his skin and muscle tissue.

  The archer was already in his field of vision. By his robes, he was an apprentice of the Bright Moon Clan, and by his face, he was amazed at his opponent’s strength. Notching another arrow, he got ready to fire again. He didn’t expect that he’d have to fire twice.

  In the meantime, Kai rushed back to the corpses to get the Crystals before fleeing. There was still a certain amount of the Serpent’s venom in his body, so he was still far from being in his best shape. Starting a fight with the archer would be a stupid idea.

  Unfortunately, the archer didn’t share his opinion. A new arrow flew in Kai’s direction, splitting into a dozen arrows mid-flight.

  Kai didn’t have the time to retreat. Turning around abruptly, he managed to dodge two daggers at the last moment. The archer materialized right next to him. That is, his double did. The appearance and aura matched perfectly, but the thin energy thread that connected it to its master revealed its true nature.

  As soon as Kai moved his arm to attack, he already had to run away from another arrow. Just like with the daggers, he barely dodged. All of his attempts to fight back or approach the corpses were interrupted by the archer and his double. They moved in tandem, covering one another.

  With each passing moment, Kai grew angrier. Not only did this guy want to take away his hard-earned trophy, but he didn’t even allow him to defend himself. He was being attacked from all sides and forced to move further and further away from the corpses.

  Fucking fuck! What happened to all those auras I had felt before?!

  A bright flash struck nearby, after which a huge explosion enveloped the clearing. The shockwave knocked Kai back and the flames burned his skin. Fortunately, he was far away from the epicenter so he was only slightly injured. The robes, which were of peak quality and Silver rank, had helped protect him.

  Landing on his feet, he glanced around. The doppelganger now stood next to the archer, slowly merging back with him. The young man’s strength doubled. As if that wasn’t bad enough, a group of twenty students from the Bright Moon Clan now stood behind him.

  A similar team appeared on the opposite side of the clearing, led by no one other than Shin Sei.

  Anger boiled in Kai’s heart.

  “You!” Shin Sei blurted out in surprise. What the hell was Kai doing here?! “What a great catch! The Fruit, two Titan corpses, and your Ring!” he exclaimed with a smile.

  Like many others, he, too, had felt the clash of two powerful auras. Reaching the Titan Stage, animals acquired considerable intelligence, so they knew the value of life. They wouldn’t fight for no good reason. This was why everyone nearby hurried to the battlefield as soon as the bestial auras began to fade. Even if the beasts were still alive, they couldn’t help but check out the situation. The temptation was far too great.

  “Hey, you!” Shin Sei shouted arrogantly, looking at the archer. “This is our loot. You better get out of here before you join these two!”

  All three sides froze. The archer’s team was thinking whether the prize was worth fighting against Shin Sei and his team, and Kai was thinking about how he could get closer to the corpses without being noticed. He had no intention of handing them over to these vultures, but he was painfully aware of the fact that he couldn’t deal with both of the groups on his own in his current condition.

  If he could just get to the Crystals…

  Before the archer could reply, a new group appeared in the clearing.

  Several bright orbs materialized in the sky. A moment later, a blinding light flooded the clearing, disorienting everyone present. Except for Kai, whose energy vision saved him again.

  Seeing an opportunity, he rushed toward the Tiger’s corpse.

  Strengthening his hand with sword energy and all the Forces he knew, he pierced the Tiger’s chest, already weakened by the poison. Grabbing the Crystal that glowed even through the flesh and muscle, he immediately sent it to his Ring. At the next moment, he received a powerful kick to the chest and was thrown a couple of tens of feet away to the side.

  The blindingly bright light disappeared.

  Atop the Tiger’s corpse stood a beautiful young man with azure eyes and golden hair, clutching the Serpent’s Crystal. Calmly looking at the artifact shimmering with violet light, the best fighter of the Sun Blessed Clan paid no attention to anyone else.

  “I believe I’ll keep the Crystals for myself. As well as the Fruit,” Yan Liang said arrogantly. “You can have the rest.”

  “Bastard!” Shin Sei shouted after he got back to his senses. “Who do you think you are?! Do you think you can take all of us on?!”

  “Who says I’m alone?” Yan Liang chuckled.

  As if summoned, four more people appeared next to him. And although they were outnumbered, each of them belonged to the elite circle of their clan and could easily defeat a dozen disciples on their own.

  Shin Sei grimaced. Yan Liang alone didn’t pose a threat to his group, but the five strongest apprentices of the Sun Blessed Clan weren’t something to mess around with.

  He looked aside and swore. The next moment he rushed forward. Yan Liang did the same.

  Once they crossed their blades, Kai took advantage of the situation, stole the Fruit, and fled. Despite his best attempts to hide his aura, the archer and his group still managed to notice his attempt to escape, which was why they were the first to rush after him.

  Another battle for the rare Fruit was about to begin.

  Chapter 23

  THE UNDERWATER TEMPLE

  Kai was furious. It wasn’t enough that he had risked his life trying to get the Fruit but now he was forced to flee like some sort of a fugitive.

  Dodging another arrow, he tried to speed up but he didn’t have enough ki as all of it was focused on helping his body recover from the wounds and poison. He wagered that it’d take him at least another couple of hours to finally get rid of it completely. Until then, he had to work with what he had and pray that that’d be enough to save him.

  He had already masked his aura to resemble an animal one, but the members of the Bright Moon Clan was still able to track him down. Probably due to the fact that they excelled in hunting. As if they weren’t enough of a pain in his side, the Salamanders and the Sun Blessed were also after him.

  Realizing that anger wouldn’t do him any good, Kai took a deep breath and calmed down. In these kinds of situations, one needed to have a clear mind to avoid making mistakes. So far, he had had luck, but that didn’t mean that i
t’d always be so. He needed to become stronger. Not only physically, but also mentally.

  Synchronizing his breathing, thoughts, and the flow of ki, he picked up his pace ever so slightly. Focusing on his footing, he tried to plan out every step to avoid falling over and gain some distance between him and his pursuers. If he couldn’t do that much, what the hell had he been training for all this time?

  Pondering how he could get away from his pursuers, he turned toward the ocean, suddenly remembering a place that he had long wanted to visit. Perhaps he’d be able to hide there.

  When he had left the lands of the Thunder Serpent Clan, he couldn’t help but become interested in the scroll that old Gin wanted so much from him. And although he had studied it before, he hadn’t found anything odd about it. At least until the day the scroll released a wave of mysterious power that didn’t resemble either energy or Force. Realizing that things weren’t so simple, he halted to figure things out.

  At first glance, there was still nothing unusual about the scroll. It looked like an ordinary item, deprived of both energy and Forces. Energy vision showed nothing either, making Kai doubt that it was the scroll that had caused that strange wave of power. However, Rune’Tan came to his rescue, having sensed a spirit mark imprinted on the scroll.

  As he explained to Kai, such a mark was a special seal left by the soul of the item’s owner. Only master cultivators could do this from the moment they reached the peak level of the Elementalist Stage. In essence, it replaced the primitive marks, allowing cultivators to use their items better. In addition, by leaving a soul mark, they received the ability to feel it anywhere, even if it was millions of miles away. Erasing someone’s soul mark was possible only if the invading soul was stronger than that of the item’s owner.

  As always, there was a con to every pro — if the blood of the mark’s owner, processed in a special way, appeared next to it, the mark would become visible. This method was usually used by those who desperately wished to get their hands on the valuable items of a master cultivator. And that was exactly what happened when Gin took Kai’s Ring. He had a bottle with ancient master blood on himself.