Tez barely peeked his head towards the hole, observing the girl sprinkle a reagent in the air while putting a cloth to her mouth and nose. The twinkling motes floated across the cavern, reaching every corner where the Arochnids scuttled around their nest. Gradually, a few of them slowed down to a lull.
He stared behind the nest where the trio of glowing crystals lay on an altar.
She knows the weakness as well. I need to find a way to grab them ahead of her!
Tez stood up to traverse around the platform, calculating the spot where he’d be directly on top of the crystals. Kicking his feet and tapping on the ground, he had to give it his all to break this apart. Looking around, he noticed the weapons cluttered around.
“Perfect. I’ll try using the great hammer. Wait, I should use the bow as well…” Tez placed the great hammer on top of the spot above the crystals, and returned to the hole with bow and arrow in hand.
Ding!
New Skill Tree Unlocked: Path of the Great Hammer. Now have Basic Understanding of the Great Hammer.
Tez had long gotten used to this. Whenever he’d touched a weapon he’d never used before, he’d gain knowledge of the basics of using the weapon. Naturally, his skill with the bow and arrow had long gone from Basic Understanding to Intermediate Mastery.
But Rank 2 is where the real game changer is at. If I can get some crazy strong Path like void powers or some shit, that would be hella sick. Or maybe the System can help me learn multiple at the same time?
Shaking his head to leave this excitement for another day, he had his bow readied with an arrow, waiting for all the Arochnids to have been killed off in their slumber.
It didn’t take long. After a minute, Tez let go and before the arrow landed near the glaive wielding girl’s feet, he notched out another two and shot them out. That should keep her distracted for a moment!
He dashed towards the great hammer, picking it up and raising it high in the sky. “This floor better be brittle enough!”
Mad Bear Strength!
With a crazed, primal roar, Tez’s eyes reddened. His forearms bulged up with veins and slightly expanded as Tez used his skill, with his Qi surging across them. With one foot backwards, he used the force and momentum of his entire body to slam down with gritted teeth.
Cracking sounds exploded and rocks flew in Tez’s face, prompting him to close his eyes. But his legs also lost the feeling of stable ground as he fell down a dozen metres. Still roaring like a mad bear, he opened up his vision and prepared to land. With the help of gravity, it didn’t take long for him to squarely land directly in front of the altar with the three glowing crystals.
He froze on the spot for a second. Tez didn’t know why, but he felt utter dread crawl up his spine from behind him, but it disappeared just as instantly.
He saw the black-haired girl stare at him with utter contempt. “Dirty rat.” Her voice echoed in the cavern as she ran forth with all her might.
Shit, she’s hella fast!
He didn’t dare speak, in case that sleeping reagent was still active in the area. Just hearing her talk wasn’t enough for him to drop his guard.
Tez grabbed the three crystals, looking around the cavern as he started looking. His other hand barely held the great hammer in tow, so he opted to abandon it for more speed.
There’s a small hole in the corner of this cavern, but won’t it just be a drop to my death?!
Tez scurried towards the hole either way. If he could lure the girl towards that place, he’d have ro-
The sensation of cold metal stabbed deep into his hips, causing him to stumble forward. He had his jaws clenched, putting even more power to his feet fiercely even at the cost of using up all his Qi reserves. Damnit! She’s already caught up!
“Hand it over and I’ll consider letting you live. Not like you’re worth much points anyway,” she lured him, hoping Tez would give in.
Screw you, bitch! If you wanted me to surrender, don’t bloody stab me first!
He barely had time to stop and focus on using the crystals. It would take time since he wasn’t able to read the engravings on the altar or focus on activating them. He wasn’t at the stage of being able to multitask with Qi, let alone multitask in general!
Just five more metres!
Danger Sense (Beginner) activated. He ducked his head slightly down as the glaive sliced towards him.
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“I’m going to throw these crystals out the hole if you won’t stop trying to stab me!” Tez yelled out, holding his breath immediately after yelling those words.
“If you don’t stop running immediately, you’re dead!” She didn’t let up and give Tez the upper hand, staying firm in her offence.
Tez turned around, this time holding the crystals behind his back. If she tried to kill him on the spot, he’d have barely enough time to let them roll behind him towards the hole, falling out.
“Hand over two of them. I’ll let you have the last one. Don’t forget, I’m the one who cleared out this shitty cavern for you,” she said while glaring at him. “That’s fair enough for the both of us.”
“How can I believe you?” Tez said, finally believing that the sleeping reagent wasn’t active anymore in the air.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, I’ll swear an Oath by the Architect.”
Tez sneered at her. “You can just lie, then what? Back away, so I feel safe enough to throw you two of these crystals.”
“Y-you dare claim I’d renege such an oath?! I just put my reputation on the line. You think that’s a light matter?!” Her glaive trembled with rage, but she backed off a few steps.
“Heh, there’s no one here listening. You can easily break such an oath,” Tez retorted, but a sweat trickled down his forehead.
“You idiot, if I break an oath of the highest level, then what makes me different from those demonic cultivators who’d betray even their own families for the hell of it?! Haven’t you heard of principles?!” She clenched her jaws out of anger, forcing herself to ease up. She still had to figure out a way to gain her rewards back!
Kraus sure was right. These cultivators sure love their oaths. Wouldn’t it be easy to finesse em by abusing such a trait? Tez took out a crystal, dangling it in front of the girl. “Alright, I’ll throw these towards you.”
His opponent refused to drop her guard, as if ready to pounce on him at any time.
He raised his hands back, as if to build up some momentum to throw it forward.
Leopard Leap!
Tez pounced towards the hole while bending his body to dodge the sweeping glaive that shot towards him, smelling the fresh smell of the outside world as he fell into the sky. “That was bloody close!”
The same dread he felt earlier on came back again. And when he saw the side of the rocky platform on a cliff he fell out of, he saw a giant Arochnid resting on the side. Its deep eyes, swarming with a bizarre purple spiral.
He almost shit himself at the appearance. But strangely, it stayed still and didn’t act what so ever.
As he continued to fall, Tez didn’t bother focusing on the girl staring daggers into him as she stood out the hole. Even if she wanted revenge and looked around for a weapon, he’d be long fallen out of sight.
But Tez wasn’t in any better of a spot. He’d be dead if he landed without being able to save himself.
“Come on, give me that flying eagle mount!” Tez focused on the first crystal, watching it dissipate into the air. Leaving a small tattoo on his left hand, he weirdly felt some information running into his head. “A beast subjugation spell for five minutes?”
The freezing air cut into him as he struggled to keep his eyes open. He had to hurry. Using the second crystal, he hoped for the squawk of a bird to grab him up.
A scroll appeared in his hands, painted with ink in all sorts of sigils. A powerful Rank 1 Charm, able to weaken his presence in the wilds unless a Rank 2 tried to sense him.
“Shit! Just give me a mount! I’m gonna bloody die at this rate!” Tez couldn’t bother turning his head around to see what was below, but there wasn’t enough time either way.
With the third crystal activated, his bangle on his wrist hummed as clouds formed into a map in front of him.
You can now choose where the Walls of Destruction will zone towards. Any region aside from the one you choose will gradually be destroyed, forcing all participants to battle in a smaller space.
“Shit! What the hell am I gonna do with- wait. This is…” Tez felt the information dig into his mind like the warmth of the sun making him forget his sheer cold. “If I can choose the area for the region that still remains, surely it’ll allow me to be there as well, right?”
Tez chose the northernmost place he could see. The last thing he needed was a crazed glaive wielding girl to be anywhere near him.
He felt like his body was being squeezed into a tiny pinhole for a second, and his vision completely changed.
He still felt cold, though. Like he was in the freezer section of the supermarket.
As all he saw was white across the horizon with mountains in the distance, with light snow falling serenely.
Scouring his surroundings, Tez finally felt relief as he slumped to the ground.
Holding a hand to his bleeding hip, Tez focused his eyes to cultivate his Qi towards stalling the bleeding. The pain now came all too well, with his adrenaline gone.
“I still need to beat more people. If most of the fighters end up here, that Rank 1 charm should end up being pretty useful.” Tez sighed, barely warming himself up by using Qi to cycle within him vigorously.
He thought back to the declaration of the final reward.
“Walls of Destruction zoning in towards a specific region, huh? Might make it easier to finish that quest to defeat a hundred fighters.”
He sighed as he stared at the sky.
Damn, it really sounds like that ancient ass game that used to be popular.
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Elder Kuveiros held a finger to his chin. “It seems we have a way to go before refining this procedure. The Deviant of the southern region has failed to defend its rewards.”
Each region had a hidden Deviant Beast lurking, guarding, or taking hold of the most crystals. Whoever was the first to get these rewards was likely to trigger the final stage of the sect examinations. Otherwise, the fewer fighters there were, the harder it would be to find each other within the Fractured Realm.
“No matter. We have an idea of the strongest disciples. The main point was to take note of the unseen disciples that have great potential, no matter the situation.” Grand Elder Wanshang said as he circled his glass under the sweltering heat.
“So, Swordfall. Who do you think will make it?” He asked, out of intrigue.
Elder Swordfall held both hands together, observing the volcanic region with intent. His dark amber eyes and face held no expression, as if it were an insignificant matter. But his attention meant otherwise.
“The Wu Clan produced someone beyond their capabilities. A blessing indeed for our sect.”
With a smile, Grand Elder Wanshang took a fleeting glance as well. It’s obvious who you’re really looking at, Swordfall.
Thinking back to the time where the Liu Clan was at an uprise, Grand Elder Wanshang took even more intrigue in the foreign clan member. The one never meant to join as a disciple, if it weren’t for him.
Now, how will you get out of this, descendant of the Sword Saint?