Someone please! Help me! Anyone!"

The shrieks of a mature woman grew louder by the second as Hoshi and Xiang rushed towards her.

"Don't let that monster take him away!"

"Over there!"

Xiang pointed towards the right before both of them leaped through a thick bush to finally reach the woman in distress. The area was fairly open and the vegetation around was torn apart by something massive.

"What's wrong!?" Hoshi asked loudly.

"Thank Cora! Someone came! That monster… that Phoenix….."

The woman was hysterically running out of breath. She was wearing traditional blue Japanese robes and her hair was all messed up.

"Calm down. Take a deep breath and tell us," Xiang politely spoke while keeping his hood on.

The woman did as the hooded man suggested and stated while weeping, "My only son was just taken away by a menacing blue Phoenix! Hurry, you have to get him back to me! Before that monster devours him!"

"What!? How did that happen?" questioned Xiang.

"We were out here collecting berries before my son ran through one of these bushes while chasing a butterfly. Little did we know, there was that huge bird searching for food beyond. The first thing it did was snatch my boy with its beak only to fly away towards the north!" the woman lamented.

"Dammit! It must be the Ao Fenikkusu!" cursed Xiang.

"I am going after it."

Determined Hoshi as he threw away his rucksack while keeping his katana close.

"What did you just say!? Are you nuts!? You are not yet ready to face it in battle!" yelled Xiang.

"I can't let it kill that child. I can't let his and her ambition die as it once did for me."

Hoshi turned towards the direction the woman looked at earlier.

"Wait! You can't be serious! You can't just risk your life for some random child!" Xiang stressed as he grabbed Hoshi's hand.

"Sir Hirishima also risked his life for me, a child who he just met. How is this any different!? If you want to help, seek Kazan. Now step back!" shot Hoshi.

Xiang released the Exilirian who attained his first state and transferred it to his legs in order to begin sprinting at a tremendous speed towards the north. His radiant red aura vanished in the blink of the eye into the deep woods.

"If only he was still here, none of this would have happened."

The woman kept sobbing as if she didn't notice what just happened.

"Who was?"

"My husband. He succumbed from the claws of a ferocious bear when I was still pregnant. Life has been treating us savagely ever since."

"(What am I doing? I must hurry back to the guildhouse and tell Kazan!)"

Xiang made haste back towards the city.

Meanwhile, Hoshi was running at an incredible speed in order to catch up to Fenikkusu and after a few seconds he managed to catch a glimpse of the creature he was after in the sky. The Phoenix was indeed blue in colour which finished in gradient with red on its wings and tail. It had a large red beak that held a child with torn up robes firmly through his abdomen. Its body and wings were gigantic and definitely this prey will not fulfill its appetite.

"(There it is! What should I do? Use my first state in combination with my third to reach it in the sky? No, that will not work. Even if I snatched the boy from it, a fall from that height will be the end for the both of us. Damnit, it's best if I keep following it for now.)"

Hoshi reduced the amount of aura he was transmitting in his legs as he devised a plan while he followed the Phoenix and watched out for hurdles in his way.

Some time later, Xiang finally reached the city of Hyõkõ and barged straight inside the guildhouse by forcefully opening its doors.

"What's the meaning of this!?" angered Sakura as she was interrupted explaining to a hunter about some contract requirements.

"Where is Kazan!? I need to see him now!" yelled Xiang after he caught his breath.

"Sir Kazan is not here, he has gone to fulfill a client's request," stated Chika who was on maid duty for the hunters.

"Where? Can you tell me where he has gone!?" Xiang swiftly asked even though he was still fatigued by all that running.

"What's wrong? You look like you have seen a ghost. Come here."

Invited Sakura as the other people in the area were feeling disturbed from all the screaming.

Xiang moved towards the reception table and recalled the sudden encounter with the helpless woman along with Hoshi's decision to Sakura only.

"I had a feeling it had something to do with that orange haired boy. That's why I didn't call my sister over to listen as well," commented Sakura.

"She has a soft side for Hoshi, I know. You didn't want to make her worried. You are a good sister," complimented Xiang.

For a brief second Sakura's lips were sealed but immediately after, she swiftly said, "You wanted to know where Sir Kazan is? He-"

"Well well if it isn't that troublemaker. Like I told you once before, you are not welcome here."

An overweight man with streaks of white in his short blueish hair and a large mole on his right lower clean shaven jaw interrupted. He walked out from the back corridor in an abnormal gait and was wearing silky grey robes with his chest exposed. He was smoking a large brown cigar in his mouth below his nappy mustache.

Stolen story; please report.

"I know, I will leave once I get the information I am looking for." Xiang complied because arguing will only delay his task.

"Sakura! No need to tell him anything. Now leave!" the man sternly yelled.

"You don't understand how important this is to me. Please, I will do anything once I am done," Xiang threw his pride away and requested.

"Father back off!" Some of the hunters and even Chika began observing once they heard Sakura's loud voice.

"(Father? Xiang? What is going on here?)" Chika puzzled.

"What did you just say young girl?" the man growled.

"I said go back to your office, I have everything under control."

Sakura walked out of the reception area and confronted the man directly.

"How dare you talk to me like that for a vermin like him!?" the man scolded.

"Whatever he is, but at least he is willing to swallow his pride when it comes to supporting someone close to him," shot Sakura which shut the man up.

"I don't want to hear that shit again." The man sighed. "Fine, do whatever you want. But if there will be any trouble from you, I will feed you to the beasts.

After pointing towards Xiang, the man grumpily walked back to where he came from.

"You shouldn't have argued with your father for me. I would've found another way to find Kazan," said Xiang.

"Don't get the wrong idea. If that boy dies my sister will be very upset. I am doing this only for her," Sakura abruptly replied.

"You're right about that sis! And you make sure nothing happens to Hoshi." Chika frowned at Xiang.

"Of course you heard everything. Anyways, Sir Kazan has gone at the bottom of the waterfall to slay a couple bears that have been troubling the locals living nearby. Take the spiral stairs down behind this guildhouse and head towards the left until you find a small cave," Sakura stated.

"Thanks, and sorry for my behaviour earlier. You weren't so bad after all." Xiang quickly turned around and made haste towards the address.

"Hey listen! Make sure you three come back otherwise me and sis will kill you ourselves!" Yelled Chika.

"Count on it!" Xiang gave a thumbs up before leaving.

"Not the sharpest knife in the kitchen are you?" asked Sakura.

"Says the girl you just smiled from a compliment from the man you apparently hated." Chika jeered.

"Shut up, get back to work." Sakura got flustered.

Hoshi was running out of his aura even after he reduced his speed. His body was emitting faint amount of black smoke while he sweated profusely.

"(I can't keep this up. I got to make my move now.)"

Just as Hoshi began devising another plan, the Phoenix lowered its altitude and landed somewhere on the left.

The creature's pursuer followed it and after traversing through some thick bushes, came across a steep slope which led to a valley enclosed by three green mountains of almost the same height. There was a prominent cave in the base of the furthest mountain with a fairly open and large field. The blue Phoenix was clearly visible, making its way inside the cave.

"(The child is still in its beak. Please hold on, I am coming!)"

Hoshi increased the aura on his legs in order to reach the cave as fast as he could.

Once there, he noticed a trail of blood leading inside.

"(Dammit, he is losing a lot of blood.)"

Hoshi entered the cave and indeed it was proliferating with stalagmites and stalactites, whose various shapes were clearly visible because of the immense reflective capability of the almost mirror-like adamantine ores all around. As he followed the blood trail, he cringed at the site of the skeletons of children ranging from three to ten years of age.

"(I can't do anything about these poor children. That bastard! I will not let you kill another!)"

A few seconds later, He finally caught a glimpse of the Ao Fenikkusu which had just set its fresh victim down. The boy's abdomen had two large gouges and an abundant amount of blood flowed like a spring from them. He was hyperventilating and didn't even have the energy to cry.

"(Shit. He is in worse shape than I thought. I have to stop his bleeding now!)" Hoshi once again increased his aura to the maximum and transferred it to his legs which increased their muscle mass considerably.

"But how? That monster is right there! Unless I can…)" Hoshi looked up and noticed a sharp stalactite and used a faint amount of aura to create an orb of red flames.

Once he launched the fire orb, he sprinted and reached the child even before the fragment of the stalactite fell and impaled the Phoenix. Unfortunately, the legend about it was true as the fragment froze mid fall and was reverted back to Hoshi before he could pick up the child. He kicked the sharp projectile's blunt side and devastated it into tiny pieces to make sure it didn't hit him or the boy behind him.

The Fenikkusu turned towards Hoshi and glared at him with its shiny white eyes. More of the both rock formations suddenly broke from their foundation and flew towards him. He dodged the ones that didn't place the child in danger while kicking those that were.

"(It is just going to use this power if we fight here. I have to take it outside and defeat it before that boy dies from blood loss.)"

Hoshi ran towards the exit of the cave while hitting the Phoenix with a fireball in order to lure it outside.

It clearly worked as now both him and the menacing bird were facing each other in the field just outside the cave's entrance. Now, having a clear view of this divine creature, it was enormous in size and had large serrated feathers which could easily lacerate huge areas of the flesh. The top of its head had grey bony projections which it could easily use to impale its prey after ramming into them.

After preparing its muscular legs, the Fenikkusu swiftly charged at Hoshi who jumped up using a faint amount of aura to avoid the attack just in time. However, his efforts were in vain as the Phoenix used its spiked up tail to get a clean swing at one of his flanks, throwing him towards the left.

Hoshi forced his body up even though his right flank had several decently sized lacerations which ripped through his armor and torso. He unsheathed his katana and pointed it towards his adversary in a high stance. The Phoenix once again charged at him but this time, he transferred the aura from his legs to his arms in order to launch a perfectly timed vertical slash at one of its wings. This startled the Fenikkusu as its balance impaired which opened up an opportunity for Hoshi to use his enhanced arm movement to stab his opponent in the chest.

The Phoenix screeched but before Hoshi could penetrate his weapon any deeper, it spread out its wings and took flight. After circling around for a few seconds with blood dripping ever so slightly from the fresh wound, it rotated its body in such a manner that some of the sharp feathers from its wings launched at Hoshi. For the most part he countered this attack by swinging his katana fast enough to slice through most of them. Unfortunately, a few still stabbed him, one in his abdomen, one each of both of his thighs and one in his chest. The force of these feathers penetrated the entire thickness of his leather armor and beyond.

That was not all, a thick black smoke began emerging from Hoshi's body with his aura fading away gradually.

"Damn you body! Just keep at it for a bit longer!" cursed Hoshi before the Phoenix flew towards him and like a spear, launching its body in a spiral motion with its beak being the deadly spearhead. The speed of attack was far too great for Hoshi to dodge as no aura was currently infused in his legs so he quickly reinforced his upper body and used his katana blade's blunt side to block it.

The beak ricocheted from the blade and brutally hit Hoshi's left shoulder, throwing him way back and hit a tree behind. That exact shoulder was now completely dislocated and his left arm was now unusable. To make matters worse, all the aura around him now completely disappeared with huge amounts of black smoke emerging from his body. His katana flew away from him and was now difficult to reach.

The Phoenix landed back on the field but instead of finishing its opponent, it moved back towards the cave entrance.

"No! Come back here! We are not finished here!" Hoshi yelled his lungs out but the Fenikkusu paid no attention.

"Come on, you worthless body! Get up! Get up! It will eat that child! I must stop it! I must give him back to his mother!" Hoshi screamed as he forced his body up but failed to move his muscles more than a few millimeters. He tried his best to ignore the excruciating pain in his entire left arm which refused to move at all.

"(Damnit! Again, someone is going to die in front of me and I won't be able to do anything about it! Nothing has changed, no amount of training or guidance can make trash like me stronger). Come on! Please, please!" Hoshi was clearly frustrated from his weakness as the Phoenix slowly walked towards the cave's entrance.

End of chapter thirty-four.