(Author: Hello! I'm back with a triple release! The hunt for the Hyperion has begun! Shu and Meng Ce, under the alias of Agemo Miura and Jing, join Gillian and the seven recruits to hunt the Hyperion. Lu Shu has used the name of his past life as his alias. Just who is Agemo (Ah-geh-mo) Miura? The goals of the recruits is revealed at last. They wish to be God Eaters and kill the mutated angelic race that dared to make themselves artificial gods. Just what is Gillian and Meng Ce leading their charges to? Enjoy.)
------------Chapter 8: The Hunt Begins-------------
"Why.........Agemo?
Agemo........you need to stop!
.........it was you? It was you all along? Why?
Agemo........
Agemo........
I knew it! HAHAHA! So this is who you are! Wonderful!
What have you done to yourself? Have you gone mad?
They're coming Agemo. They don't like what you've done.
Agemo Miura, chief of the Robotics Division V-21, come with us."
The voices stopped and he saw a scientist with raven black hair and multiple bullet wounds laying back against a machine. Several people in black camo uniforms appear, pointing their guns at him. The scientist laughed, spewing blood as he did so. An elderly man with round, black metal rimmed glass appeared in a similar white lab coat.
"Agemo Miura. How low you have fallen," the elderly man said. "You were my best student. Why did you do it? Why create Project O?"
"You could never understand the greatness of what I was pursuing," Agemo laughed.
"It used alien DNA! You're not a god! Sure, you have created prosthetics that feel as real as a human arm. Your discoveries in cybernetic studies has revolutionized the world! Why did you tamper with the human genome? Did you know what you have done? What your test samples have become?" the man roared.
"They are the evolution of mankind. The first of their race: homo superior. Sometimes, evolution just needs a little help in order to evolve," Agemo gasped as blood trickled down his mouth. "I only regret that I don't live to see it. You'll never find them."
"But we can track them using your DNA. You put yourself through the experimental procedure didn't you?" the old man said as he looked Agemo in the eye.
"HAHAHA! No. You cannot find them. I was the only success, but they will live on. They have my research and will continue my work," Agemo laughed as he was losing feeling in his limbs.
The building began to shake and the elderly man stared at him in shock and asked aloud, "What have you done?"
"I won't let you take my research when I die. I'm no fool. You think I...I didn't know? The people you secretly work for? Heh. Goodbye teacher. Thank you for all you've done. I...I...," Agemo began and everything went dark.
Lu Shu's eyes burst opened as he leaned up from his bed, panting heavily. He put a palm on his forehead as he laid back down. It seemed that his past name had triggered some memories. Agemo Miura. Just who was he? The last calendar date he remembered was 2819. Mankind had created flying cars and evolved the internet, able to see a holographic screen from their eyes.
They had even created virtual reality gaming. Prosthetics had evolved and mankind even made programmable robots that seemed almost lifelike. Agemo Miura had a prosthetic left eye and was a scientist in charge of programming robots. He had made a breakthrough and released the information to the world. After that, his memory started to fade. He didn't know much more and those were his strongest memories.
"Just what was that dream?" Lu Shu murmured aloud. He couldn't go back to sleep and decided to cultivate spirit energy for the next hour before dawn.
"Hey Agemo! Over here!" Jiro shouted as Lu Shu and Meng Ce exited the town three hours later.
"Glad you all made it," Gillian nodded. "Today we hunt the Hyperion. I will be riding atop my magical beast. It has the ability to sense the Hyperion. The trail led to Wightwood Forest. If what the young scholar, Agemo, said was true; we might need to go underground. Weapons at the ready. Who knows what we will find once we make our descent or where it will lead to."
Gillian rode a large lizard as big as a horse with black and dull blue scales. It had frills around the back of his head, towards the neck, and screeched before heading into the forest. Lu Shu and Meng Ce followed Gillian on their white tiger magical beasts in their full size while the seven recruits followed them on horseback. As they rode through the forest, faint traces of claw marks, footprints, and paws were present all around them on the ground and trees.
"Remember, the Hyperion are not like magical beasts. They are more feral and always travel in groups. If you see a humanoid, shout and let me and Scholar Jing kill it. No matter the stage or tier, humanoid Hyperion are vastly superior to those of the same rank. The horde leader is always more humanoid, than its monstrous peers. However, this situation is beyond abnormal so there might be more than one humanoid Hyperion. Leave them to us and stay together," Gillian shouted and saw a large tunnel in the ground. "It seems Scholar Agemo was correct. Be careful now. It will be dark so use your mana and spirit energy to detect each other and stay together."
"Let them stay together. You just stay close to me," Meng Ce said and Lu Shu nodded as they followed Gillian into the tunnel. Lu Shu would occasionally take a sip from the gourd hanging on his left side. Inside the gourd was the lion wine. It wasn't actually wine, but it did have an amazing taste and improved his spiritual energy flow within his body.
They followed Gillian in the darkness. They didn't travel that far down, only about fifty feet, before just following a large, straight tunnel forward at the same elevation. The tunnel was clearly artificially made. The markings left by the Hyperion were no longer faint and more prominent, suggesting that they had no need for subterfuge while traveling underground.
Gillian was feeling worried as they traveled. This was obviously a small army of a few hundred. Just how many humanoids were there? They had to have very powerful spirit sensitivity to avoid detection with such a large group.
Stages of cultivation had nothing to do with spirit sensitivity. It only had an influence on the range to manually increase it. People like Lu Shu, did not need to grow powerful to sense really faint and far spirit energy levels. That was how he was able to detect the man protecting Ivy Shao in the shadows before he entered the vault.
"Just how far is it going?" Shu asked.
"I'm afraid we will soon be past Wightwood Forest," Meng Ce answered.
"What? I don't get to explore the forest and kill magical beasts?" Shu asked, disappointed.
"You get to kill the Hyperion. They are much better training dummies for you to practice and kill. When the people of the academy leave, we will explore the place the Hyperion tried to visit instead," Meng Ce amended.
"Okay. I'll accept that. Less people will have explored it. Good thing I brought several empty journals. I'm gonna record what we find, see, and kill in it. Should serve useful in the future," Shu nodded. "Have you ever killed a Hyperion?"
"Once, a long time ago. I used to join a mercenary group. We had a mission in the far east once. That nation no longer exists now," Meng Ce said sadly. "I was at the fourth stage of Spirit Shaman then. I once thought I was strong. I never considered Spirit Knights as I seldom saw one. I think it was snowing that day. We were supposed to get our payment from the town. What we saw were ruined buildings. We wondered where the people were. I tripped, and then we knew. I had tripped over a severed arm, covered by snow long ago. Only a scavenger party of Hyperion remained."
Meng Ce sighed sadly as they continued down the tunnel, "One of the party came from that town. Blinded by grief, rage, and sorrow; he charged at the Hyperion. We all fought and killed them all. We thought it was over until we saw it, the leader. It took three of the ten of us down with it when it died. They were the weakest three, but the man who came from the town, Benjamin, died. He was the strongest of us, not our leader, but he died because he could not calm his mind. He let his emotions take over and it blinded him, leading him to his death."
Meng Ce stared long and hard at Lu Shu as the tunnel started to elevate. "If you see someone you know and love die, do not let your emotions cloud your judgment. It is a weakness that will end up killing you. Just as you must numb yourself from the guilt of killing others, so too, must you numb the feelings you have for others. Your life must take priority. Strangers to the Lu clan do not matter unless they are in-laws. Do not risk your life to save others if you know you cannot win. Heroes are only those who are declared as such after the deed has been done. You must become stronger, Lu Shu, to protect what is yours and attain what you must have."
"How do I increase my soul defense?" Shu asked, as his Eclipse Indestructible Body technique made him nearly indestructible to material attacks to those around his rank and below.
"You are already doing so. Regulating a steady, minimal amount of spirit energy in your body is a form of training your soul defense. The amount of people who pursue in learning soul attacks is minimal, but there are people who choose to study this path. Most of them are those who are uncomfortable with close quarter combat, the ideal specialty of all Practitioners," Meng Ce said as they exited the tunnel and continued to follow the tracks.
"What is the difference of a material and soul attack? Do soul attacks really attack the soul?" Shu asked.
"Not exactly. Think of the soul as the source of your spirit energy. Right now, soul attacks are not effective as your Spirit Pulse has not assumed its true form and is still dispersed all over your body. Upon the third rank, you must put a Mystic Stone inside your body or you will never be able to cultivate further," Meng Ce answered. "Before you ask, I allow the seven recruits to begin listening to our conversation about this. They should learn soon and I don't want them to think we are up to something suspicious."
"Mystic Stone? What is that?" Shu asked after Meng Ce nodded to him after a moment.
"Mystic Stones are crystalized spheres of a planet's spirit energy," Meng Ce said as the recruits became interested and closed in. "Let it be said that mortals are not meant to become immortals. Thus, we borrow the power of the stars, like planets, to become the source of our spirit energy. In a sense, the Mystic Stone becomes like a core inside our body."
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"I heard about those," Johannes exclaimed aloud and quickly bowed his head in apology. "Sorry, Mister Scholar. I'm a Practitioner so I am also very interested in it. Can my friends and I listen too?"
"Sure," Meng Ce smiled. "Passing knowledge onto others is the natural duty of scholars. Now, where was I? Ah, right. You see, Mystic Stones house our spirit energy. It allos Practitioners to cultivate past the third stage and continue their path to immortality. I don't know what it's like for mages, but Mystic Stones become the storage of the spiritual energy in our body. Once your Spirit Pulse condenses to reveal its true form, the spirit will place itself inside the Mystic Stone. If the Mystic Stone represents the outer core of a planet, the spirit, itself, represents the inner core."
Gillian lowered his speed as it was a valuable lesson to his recruits and said, "We will rest here and allow their horses to rest. Please continue to tell them about Mystic Stones. I will water their horses and make sure they are well rested. If we need to escape, they should be fit for such a task. I don't know where we are, but we seem to be in a hidden valley of some sort. After I feed the horses, I will do some recon to check our surroundings and recheck the trail."
"Okay, Mystic Stones are both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is, of course, the ability to cultivate past the third stage. Most outsiders not in a powerful clan, sect, or institution of some kind, are stuck at the third stage for all time. Having a Mystic Stone does not guarantee that you will break past the third stage as it depends on your hard work, talent, or outside influence. The curse is that you become vulnerable to soul attacks. Your life is tied to the Mystic Stone as it becomes one with your body. If a soul attack shatters the Mystic Stone, you die. If your Mystic Stone is damaged, it has an influence on your spiritual energy until it repairs itself," Meng Ce said as they all sat down while Gillian tended to the horses and his own magical beast. The white tiger magical beasts of Meng Ce and Lu Shu rested among them.
"So it is another kind of weakness?" Jiro asked. "Wow. Glad I'm not a Practitioner."
"There are also seven different types of Mystic Stones. They are purple, cerulean, jade, gold, white, black, and crimson. Each some with different effects and..." Meng Ce began when Gillian rushed in.
"They detected us. The small army is heading this way. Prepare yourselves! Scholar Jing, there are six humanoids. I am unsure of their strength. We must head out. Children, stick together! Kill any that emerge from the trees. Do not show mercy for they will show you none!" Gillian roared and disappeared into the trees after bringing the horses back.
"Keep your magical beast with you. Always be ready to run. Many will pass us and a humanoid is sure to pass as well. Take this Mystic Stone and book. It details specifics about it. Stay alive. Our magical beast tigers have a connection. If we do get separated, I will find you. Be careful and stay alive," Meng Ce warned as he passed a white, crystal orb to Shu and disappeared into the trees
"I understand," Shu said and took out Rain Slayer, the blade pulsing with the black, baleful aura. He quickly put the Mystic Stone into his storage bag while the others stared at his blade, too shocked by the baleful aura to notice the crystal orb. They shook their heads and formed a pyramid formation, with the point toward the tunnel behind them. The three mages were obviously at the back. Shu did not join their formation and stood a little to the left of the front of their formation with his magical beast at the entrance of the tunnel.
"Bring it on!" Jiro roared as they soon heard loud explosions and screams from beyond the trees in the valley.
"For our families!" Frankie roared as Hyperion emerged from the trees.
The Hyperion were numerous. They burst out of the trees and Lu Shu saw them for the first time. The Hyperion couldn't be called gods at all. They looked nowhere near what an angel should have looked like. They looked similar to a beast. They had dark blue and black skin with large horns on their heads, slightly curved to the back. They were extremely muscular brutes with large teeth and crimson glowing eyes, one pair above the other. Their eyes were completely crimson with no sign where the iris or pupil were. They also had spiked bracelets on each leg and the ground cracked beneath their feet.
"What is that?" Johannes cried. "What kind of beast is that? It looks like a mutated lion-wolf hybrid with an extremely large, muscular frame! How is that thing an angel?"
"It's not a humanoid," Franki snarled. "Those guys look like angels, but they're not. These guys are the weaker ones, the peons they sent to kill the stragglers. Their status would be like hunting dogs."
"He's right," Jiro growled as he readied his staff. "They send those beast-type Hyperion to attack us. They are meant to test us. Test our strengths, weaknesses, teamwork, and abilities. Once they learn enough, the humanoid will appear and they almost always win."
"Marcella, you're our best mage! Use your light to blast them with beams of light! Reginald, focus your healing magic on Frankie, Lana, Johannes, and I! Jiro, try to separate them and disrupt their attacks with your earth magic!" Mino shouted.
"Right!" the other six said and Jiro and Frankie went on the offensive while Mino and Lana stayed by the three mages to protect them. Meanwhile, Lu Shu was under attack by the Hyperion as he was separated. Lu Shu thought he would have an easy time, but the Hyperion really were strong.
Just one punch could destroy a tree. While his body was protected, he would be sent flying or smashed, inches, into the ground. Lu Shu was engaged in a never-ending combat with the Hyperion as they could not kill him while he was too overwhelmed by their numbers and superior strength.
Lu Shu roared and the baleful aura blazed to life, spreading its fear effect. The Hyperion were stunned and he took the opportunity to slash Rain Slayer at the nearby Hyperion, killing them. He would jump atop some Hyperion and behead another as he fell to the ground.
Lu Shu thought all was going well until one of the Hyperion howled, sending a shockwave of spirit energy. It bypassed the white energy of his Eclipse Indestructible Body technique and stunned Lu Shu. Lu Shu fell to his knees and gasped for breath. The Hyperion had used a soul attack. While it did no damage as he was not of the third stage, it disrupted his spirit energy flow. The Hyperion finally dealt some damaged as the white energy was momentarily disappeared while one Hyperion tackled Lu Shu. He cried in pain as he slammed into the wall of stone next to the tunnel. He coughed blood on the impact as cracks formed and fell onto the ground.
The white energy covered his body once again, but the Hyperion decided to ignore him and assault the seven recruits. Lu Shu used Rain Slayer as leverage and got to his feet. He drank some sips of the lion wine from his gourd and the spirit energy inside his body increased his regeneration rate, healing the damaged areas.
"Not bad, for a human," a voice said from the forest and Lu Shu stared up.
A humanoid Hyperion had revealed itself! It was about six feet tall and had a human physique. The only difference was that it wore shining gold armor and had levitating, crescent shaped purple blades around it. The blades were shaped like a crescent moon and emitted a strange purple energy.The face was covered with a white mask that had features of a dragon. The Hyperion had golden hair and eyes with void black wings.
"I am a true Hyperion. My servants will kill those others and increase my forces," the Hyperion laughed. "God Eaters. Ha! We may have been struck down, but it was out of jealousy! Jealousy for having the same gifts as the gods! We will rise and once we find what we seek in this valley, this pathetic country will also become ours!"
Faster than Lu Shu could blink, the moon blades smashed against his body, slamming him into the rocks once more. The seven recruits were being overwhelmed and decided to escape, running into the tunnel. Marcella was beyond scared as she saw the strength of the humanoid Hyperion and ordered Mino and Johannes to drag Jiro and Frankie into the tunnel. She collapsed it behind them, not even waiting to get on their horses. As the rocks blocked the tunnel entrance, she saw the Hyperion beasts feed on the horses.
"Agemo! RUN!" Reginald shouted before the tunnel was sealed completely.
"Agemo? You're quite the durable one," the humanoid laughed as the moon blades continued pounding into him. The Hyperion looked at the beasts and continued, "Leave those brats. They don't even have Mystic Stones. They're not proper sustenance. Join the others in slaying the two in the forest."
Even though the Hyperion beasts were no match for Gillian and Meng Ce, they were just mindless wolves. What their master and alpha commanded, they obeyed without question. The moon blades paused in the air as a cloud of dust formed atop a hole where Lu Shu was.
The wall trembled and many cracks formed as the Hyperion heard a loud howl of rage. It felt a shiver down its spine as it felt a massive flux of spirit energy inside. Its eyes opened as a right hand came out first. It was no human hand. It was a dragon monkey arm with azure scales and small claws of bone-white on each of the five fingers. Lu Shu emerged, brimming with spirit energy as he drained the lion wine gourd dry. Lu Shu had activated the special ability of his Dragon Monkey Bracelet.
"Augh. That hurt!" Lu Shu said as he spat blood. "Those are no damn ordinary moon blades. It must have some special property as it disrupted my spirit energy flow."
"You survived. How quaint. You're the first human to survive the onslaught of my dual flying blades. That sword of yours has baleful aura. You must have quite the background. If you were any stronger, I would be afraid. I am at the stage you humans called the peak second stage of Spirit Shaman. I am by far the weakest of the six. Be glad you met your death at the hands of a god, Agemo!" the Hyperion roared.
"Spirit energy means nothing to me! I'll just rip it out and cut off your head! God? You are no god! You're nothing but discarded trash and mere shells of what you were. I'm gonna enjoy ripping those wings off your back!" Agemo roared.
Agemo parried the moon blades as they soared at him. The two focused spirit energy into their right hands and their fists collided. A large boom sounded around the forest and a wave of dust and rock exploded from their position.