*slash*
An oblique bar sliced through the air, cleanly splitting a huge tree in half. Shard of a Broken World quickly spun in Kieran’s hands, cutting the part of the tree that was falling in front of him into four pieces before they reached the ground.
*huff*
Kieran was breathing heavily, standing shirtless in front of the remains of the tree, revealing his muscular body soaked in sweat after spending the last few hours training with Shard of a Broken World.
"Your mastery of the double-bladed sword is increasing rapidly. You're not far from completely mastering the fundamental step. That’s impressive, considering you only started learning about it a month ago," said Runihoril.
"I would like to have a training partner to be able to perfect my mastery. I feel like I am close to being able to use the first form of the Dance of Heaven and Earth," replied Kieran.
Runihoril was surprised by Kieran's words. He thought he would still need two to three weeks to display the first form of the Dance of Heaven and Earth, but according to Kieran, he only needed a challenge to succeed in triggering it.
Runihoril was not lying to Kieran when he said that his mastery was impressive, considering the short time he had been practicing the Dance of Heaven and Earth. In truth, he was much more surprised by his progress than he showed on the outside.
He had many disciples when he was alive, and each of them had tried to use the double-bladed sword after seeing him use it, but compared to Kieran, each of them had given up the double-bladed sword after a month, even the best of his disciples was far from reaching the mastery that Kieran currently had.
According to his own estimation, if one of his former disciples wanted to display the first form of the Dance of Heaven and Earth, even two years of training would not be enough! Not to mention, he was the Elf King. Could his disciples be ordinary people? Of course not. Each of his disciples was a genius standing among the universe's elite in their respective age groups.
A light shone from Kieran aurora collar, and Shard of a Broken World disappeared from his hands. The next moment a basin of water appeared in front of him, which he lifted before pouring over his body, the cold water it contained relaxing all his muscles.
After washing his body of all the sweat, he slowly walked back to the cave. As he walked, a flame and a stone appeared above his hands, changing their shapes every few seconds.
He watched as the two elements in his hands constantly changed shape when his gaze was drawn to the sea in the distance. The flame and the stone suddenly vanished as a cold glint shone in his eyes.
A ship approaching the island's shores with hundreds of people on its deck could be seen in the distance. Kieran could recognize this ship among a thousand in a single glance.
"Finally, they're here," he whispered before disappearing from where he stood without a trace.
***
"We took a day to get everyone here. Are you sure he's on this island?" Kade asked the woman beside him as his eyes were fixed on the island.
The woman looked at her team behind her as if she wanted to send them a message before looking at Kade again.
"We found numerous traces of blood along the shores. One member of my team possesses an ability that heightens their sense of smell. The scent emanating from the discovered blood was the same as the one they had detected when we were hunting Kieran and his crystal beast back then."
"When we're done with him, I'll reward you properly."
"Thank you, Chief!"
"I want twenty people to stay here to take care of the ship. Everyone else will follow me to this island."
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Yes, Chief!"
The voices of the more than 300 members of the Thundershield guild rang out in unison.
Soon dozens of small boats appeared, carrying the members of the Thundershield guild to the island with them.
"Divide into teams of 20 members and search this island for me. As soon as you see Kieran, immediately transmit your location!"
"Yes, Chief!"
The calm that once reigned on the island has been destroyed by the members of the Thundershields Guild, who started to search every corner of the island to try and find any trace of Kieran.
***
As the sun set, the night began to reign, and the moon lit up the sky while Kieran stood on the top of a tree, gazing out at the forest below him as twenty figures moved through it.
His eyes were fixed on a single figure that stood out among the others, that of a man whose hair was tied in a ponytail, and his skin was covered with scars from the many fights he had known in his life. Judging by his appearance, the man appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties.
"He seems to be the strongest of them," Kieran whispered as he leaped from the top of the tree. His body changed into the shape of a lycan, the cold moonlight reflecting on each of his claws.
The man with the scars suddenly looked up, and a shiver ran down his spine. He had only time to see a pair of claws before his vision became black forever. The blood sprayed on the ground as the man’s body fell headless.
Kieran didn't hesitate even for a moment, although it was the first time he killed a human. From the moment he saw the ship of the Thundershield guild, a fire of rage was lit inside him. All the members of the Thundershields guild were worth less than the life of an insect for him. He wanted to tear them for what they had done to Luna.
With a quick movement, he jumped toward the rest of the team running through the forest. He reached a woman who was about twenty years old with blond hair that shone in the moonlight. A trace of fear reflected in her eyes when she saw him appear in front of her. He grabbed her by the neck and threw her against the nearest tree. Her body shattered under the impact, causing her to let out a horrible scream.
Her scream echoed in the forest, and the other members stopped in their tracks. Looking in the direction of the scream, they could see Kieran in his lycan form. Some of them started using their abilities, while others who had been frightened by his sudden appearance turned and ran away.
Kieran didn't care about that. He just wanted to kill the Thundershields guild members, all of them.
Dashing between the trees, he jumped towards a group of 5 people, grabbing one of them by the neck, knocking him to the ground, and slashing his throat.
The other four didn't even have time to take a step back when Kieran's claws sliced off their heads.
Another scream echoed in the forest, and the other team members noticed what happened. They were overwhelmed by a sense of fear as thoughts of escape consumed their minds.
The only ones who managed to free themselves from this feeling of fear were quickly executed under his claws, not even being able to retaliate. Kieran's power was far ahead of them, who were only at the late stage of the Iron rank.
A cultivator who had just breakthrough to the Bronze rank could face ten peak stage Iron rank. In front of Kieran, who had a double awakening and had suffered a heavenly tribulation, these Iron ranks looked like chickens waiting to be executed.
One by one, the 20 members who once formed the team were executed without any hesitation on his part.
He watched the 20 corpses sliced before him without emotion. He turned around, the moonlight illuminating his steps as he slowly sank into the forest, his body disappearing into the darkness.
***
It had been a little over two hours since Kieran started attacking the teams of the Thundershields guild scattered on the island, the death toll now approaching three digits.
Kade, who was surrounded by the members of his guild, had a dark expression on his face. He had been receiving calls for two hours from teams looking for Kieran, but no good news arrived. Instead, only the sound of horrible screams was heard during each call.
"Chief! We can't keep searching for Kieran while being divided. It seems he's too strong to be caught by just a team of 20 people. We should gather the teams to search for him together," said one of the members standing next to him.
"Recall all the teams. We are going to search the island together," Kade said. His voice was cold and harsh, and his eyes were red, showing the anger he felt toward Kieran.
"Yes, Chief!"
Kieran was advancing quickly in the forest, leaning on each tree. His silhouette was blurred in the night like a reaper who would come to harvest the souls of the members of the Thundershields guild.
The cries of his victims resounded in the forest, and the Thundershields guild began to panic upon realizing that they were losing control of the situation. They tried to rush to the rendezvous point that Kade had given them, but some teams had no luck when they met Kieran.
Kieran reached a group of five men and women. As soon as they saw him with his long claws filled with blood, they tried to run away, but fear filled their minds. They couldn't escape the terror that haunted them, not even being able to move as his claws closed in on them.
The five could just stand in place and see its claws tear their bodies, leaving them falling into pieces on the ground.
He continued to run in the forest, still searching for every Thundershield guild member he could find. He had already killed over 120 guild members and was still going. His crystal sense was extending all around him with every step he took.
Not stopping to recover for a second, he continued his restless hunt when he felt a presence enter the range of his crystal sense, and his body moved in that direction.