“The scent of the fruit is getting stronger! It’s almost ripe!” a young man said excitedly. “Be careful, we’ll be going down together. If the fire fruit can be found here, I’m willing to bet there are other strange herbs nearby too,” another said. “Indeed, that’s a real possibility! If there are more herbs growing nearby, we’ll no doubt be rich!” exclaimed another young man. “Y’all head in first, I’ll stand guard! If I could find this place, no doubt others would find it too! I’ll stand watch!” Bruno said sternly.“Good thinking, Bruno!”“Indeed, we didn’t even think about that!”The rest clamored on.“Now, now, enough of that! Let’s work together!” Bruno said, ignoring their blatant sucking up, keeping a straight face. Though, his true intentions have long been spotted by Zephyr. He knew Bruno’s actions were not all he made them out to be. Zephyr quietly raised his guard, he would not be charmed into servitude like the other fools. He knew Bruno had a reason for staying outside.
“No!” Bruno cried. The attack was too quick, too sudden. He could not react at all, and before he knew it, he felt his life drain from him. Before the life fully seeped out of him, he noticed Zephyr who stood before him, chuckling to himself. “You...you’re still...alive?!” he gasped, wondering how Zephyr had not fallen for his trap, how had he not been slain by him. “Dumb*ss!” Zephyr huffed, before he picked up the scoreboards on him. He knew Bruno would sooner or later betray his team. It was the most logical outcome, not only would he benefit from everyone’s scores, he would not have to ‘repay the favor’. It just so happened that he unluckily encountered someone like Zephyr, one who could never be so easily swayed. However, what Zephyr did not expect was the amount of points Bruno had accumulated. The Tournament had just started, and he already had over 600 points! The others only had about 700 or so altogether! ‘It would seem that this b*stard’s done this before!’ Zephyr thought.
Zephyr kept his guard up at the sight of such a strong attack. “Hmph, that dumb*ss didn’t know a lifeline when he saw one!” a young man said, his hands still ablaze in reddish flame, he was the source of the great attack. He then picked up a scoreboard off the burnt ground. “Bunch of dimwits, didn’t know when to quit!” another spoke up. Behind the man with the flaming hands were seven others, the one who spoke up was dressed in fine, tiger-skin clothing. “We must get more if we are to help our prince enter the Academy,” another continued.“We must help him reach the top! He must become an initiate!” another chimed in.The eight of them started to debate amongst themselves. ‘All eight of them are Strength of level nine, this is trouble!’ Zephyr thought. ‘They must be some of the strongest fighters in this Tournament, why are they bothering with helping the prince get points?’ he pondered further, troubled with their odd actions. “Wait!” Suddenly, Zephyr turned his gaze onto one man,
“We’re here!” The eight of them arrived swiftly, their travel time amounting to little more than twenty minutes. They arrived at a great, tall, mountain. The birds chirped incessantly around. From the top, came a large gust of powerful energy, signifying a great beast that was lurking above.“A tier-three beast would be on par with an Agile of level three, in fact, they might even be stronger!”“Their flight has the power to blow others away. Even a flap of its wings would be enough to give an Agile of level three some trouble! I doubt even a level four Agile could take one on without difficulty!”“Stand strong, men!” The tiger-dressed man commanded.“Understood! Everyone around has already been slain by us. We shouldn’t have a problem using this…” the one with the fire palm nodded, then, he took out a pinkish gem.“A sleeper gem?” asked the tiger-dressed man, understanding of this object’s history. Even Zephyr’s expression changed from the sight of it.Sleeper gems were a rare c
“How dare you!” accused the tiger-dressed man. He had not stopped conjuring his energy, forming the visage of a great tiger, ready to pounce upon Zephyr. ‘Heh, this thing’s worth ten thousand points!’ Zephyr thought as he collected his kill, quickly igniting Lightfoot to get away. He successfully dodged the man’s attack, appearing some thirty feet away.“You f*cking brat, give us your scoreboard now, and we might let you live!”“How dare you steal the prince’s points! Are you not afraid for your clan? Your town? The Ahi aren’t so forgiving!”The group chased after Zephyr, while the tiger-dressed man tried to stop him with his energy.‘These guys are good, but that tiger dude’s bad news! I can’t let myself be caught!’ Zephyr thought, his gears shifted as fast as his footwork in his brain. He summoned his scales’ energy, channelling the Might, and prepared to go all out. With the roar of a dragon signalling his cue, Zephyr looked as if he himself became a dragon, his speed doubled, a
“There!” Zephyr moved his energies, feeling movement somewhere. “What are you hiding for? Show yourself!?” Zephyr moved his sword, summoning his energies. “Sixth Slash!”With a twist of his wrist, every tree around was felled immediately, revealing a cunning man that stared at Zephyr with a shocked look. In his hands was a bow and arrow, he was in a stance that was ready to fire. “Lightfoot!” Zephyr said as he disappeared, quickly brandishing his sword. “No!” the man cried, feeling an impending sense of doom. “Die!” Zephyr yelled as he slew the man. However, the man had fired his arrow, sending it forth. A sharp whistle followed it. ‘Sh*t!’ Zephyr thought, quickly turning his body to dodge the arrow. However, the arrow came too fast, and hard. He desperately channeled his Might to intercept the attack.Zephyr successfully blocked the attack, but his arm reeled back from the pain, going numb as the arrow broke itself, sending a loud crack that echoed around. However, Zephyr was still
“It’s a Meteoric Bow, how lucky!” one of the new arrivals said to a thinly built friend. There were a total of five of them. This thinly built man looked extremely indifferent, though his eyes carried lethal venom, enough to freeze blood. Behind him bore a great bow of intricate make. “Indeed, this bow is a treasure hailing from Meteor. If I’m not wrong, it is an heirloom passed on by the mayor to his son! Who knew I’d get a chance to have it!” the thin man continued, and then he laughed wickedly. His eyes were locked onto the bow, carrying greed and want.“Hey brat, this bow doesn’t belong to you. Give us your points while we’re still in a jolly mood, or else!” the man who spoke previously coldly spoke to Zephyr. Once again, Zephyr was treated like nothing. However, he was a Strength of level nine, for him to look down on Zephyr was expected. “So that’s its name… Meteoric Bow, nice!” Zephyr said, nodding at the bow. He knew he should not part with it now. “Looks like we’ve got oursel
“Sixth Slash!”A thunderous roar followed suit, empowering the swords in the air. The remaining four were quickly covered, and in an instant, blood splattered everywhere. Zephyr approached the carnage slowly. As they slowly lost their consciousness, the last image they saw was Zephyr that stared coldly toward them. As Zephyr walked past them, blood continuously flowed from their injured bodies.“You… you’re Zephyr Khan! I know you… you’re Samson Leed’s… he’ll kill you! He’s looking for you!” struggled one of the men, blood poured out of his arm while he spoke. He was able to dodge Zephyr’s attack, to a certain extent. He had lost an arm, but it was at the cost of him keeping his life. Before Zephyr could say anything, the injured man immediately started running.“Where do you think you’re going?!” Zephyr yelled as he sent forth his Sixth Slash. In an instant, the visage of a sword dashed across the ground, finding its way to its target. The man screamed, “Bloodlet!” Feeling Zephyr’s