Hunter couldn't tear his gaze away from He Xiangu's fists, which were more bloodied than a butcher's apron on market day. The mysteries surrounding her were as numerous as the stars, but Hunter was crystal clear on one point: crossing paths with this half-demon warrior was about as wise as tickling a sleeping Molossus hound.

"Cat got your tongue?" He Xiangu asked casually, holding her enemy's ears in her hands like trophies, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Hunter shook his head. "Are you keeping those as souvenirs, Bravo?"

She glanced at her bloodied hands, flicking off the crimson like she was dismissing an unworthy opponent, her gaze sharp enough to slice through steel.

Hunter watched, both fascinated and slightly unnerved.

“Souvenirs?” He Xiangu narrowed her eyes, tilting her chin up proudly. “What do you think I am, a savage?” Then, carefully, she wrapped the ears in a piece of cloth and tucked them into a secret pocket under her armor.

Her movements were smooth, almost routine. "I collect these from fools who won't listen, then feed them to my pet Komodo dragon. He has a taste for chewy lugs." Her expression softened as though she were talking about a faithful dog rather than a venomous, meat eating predator.

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "You have a Komodo dragon as a pet?"

"Yes, I've been hand-rearing him since he was a hatchling. Found him being hawked by a scum trader. Let's just say I cut his career short by beating him to death with his own leg. Couldn't leave the poor creature to the whims of a greedy asshole, now could I?"

Hunter smiled, taking time to choose his words with care. Absorbing the tale, he knew it was best not to think about how exactly she clubbed a man to death with his own leg. He Xiangu was like a storm made flesh—wild, unpredictable, and breathtaking in her ferocity.

In some ways, she reminded him of Lyra back home in Delphare city—both had a dangerous edge, though He Xiangu was much more blunt in her approach. His smile tightened, unsure whether his next words would be taken as a compliment. "That's… very charitable of you." His words awkwardly hung in the air.

Hunter’s tension eased when she returned the smile. "Enough about my past deeds. Impress me with why you're not already a smear on my boot."

Hunter straightened, rolling his shoulders back to ensure he held the confident look of a seasoned gladiator. If he could paint a picture of the wonders and perils that awaited He Xiangu once she entered the Tower of ascension he stood a better chance of convincing her to join him. "Imagine, a place where your strength could soar, where your chi could dance like wildfire, without forsaking the bedrock of your cultivation."

He Xiangu growled. "When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Right now, you sound like a traveling merchant selling snake oil to the desperate and the gullible." She leveled her weapon at his throat. "If you're too stupid to realize it already, let me spell it out for you. I am neither desperate nor gullible."

All around them, battle cries echoed as flying warriors clashed in the skies, and a tempest of chi and demonic energy clashed, lighting up the sky in a ghostly glow. It made He Xiangu's threatening grimace even more terrifying to behold.

With the biting edge of her blade against his throat, it took every ounce of Hunter’s will to hold his ground and stay calm. He raised both hands in surrender and gently guided the weapon from his neck. "Let me start again. I know you have little reason to trust anything I say, and I will not squander the time you've given me any further. I think my skills speak for themselves, even if my words don't convince you. If some young man turned up out of nowhere while I was in the middle of a battle claiming a god sent him to recruit me, I'd have serious doubts, too. How about you ask me questions, and I'll answer them honestly?"

The clash of metal matched the pounding of his heart as He Xiangu took her sweet time studying him with her flint hard gaze.

Doubt crept in the longer he waited. Had he overshot the mark and instead of being respectfully confident, perhaps he came off as a self-righteous bastard instead? Sweat dripped from his brow, stinging his eyes. This was not how he imagined their first encounter going at all.

Finally He Xiangu broke the tension. "Do you have food in the tower?” She gestured to his mid-section. “Because you look a little scrawny to me."

"There's plenty of food.” Hunter puffed his chest out. “The tower is a wonder of creation. It is a living entity and quite a brilliant host." He didn't want to get into the fact that a lot of repairs were still needed. That was a conversation for another time. "I'm on the leaner side thanks to years of food rations growing up. But since I've been in the tower, I've packed some meat on my bones."

He Xiangu snorted with laughter. "You must have been thinner than a stick insect before that."

Hunter answered with a smile. Perhaps if he was a little mysterious, she might want to know more.

As the lull in the battle ended, Hunter realized his time to convince her was running short. Showing his desperation would only undermine his position. He Xiangu's fierce nature left no room for perceived weakness.

"I admit I am curious about this tower. How did something made of stone come to be alive?” Her eyes shifted to the fresh wave of advancing warriors. “Alas, we lack the luxury of time to talk further." She raised her weapon high, ready for the next onslaught. These were no ordinary fighters. Hunter cursed their shitty timing, they were high-level cultivators, stepping in at the worst possible moment.

"How about we pick this up after we've dealt with these interruptions?" Hunter suggested, gripping his weapon tighter and drawing upon his chi. He was poised to unleash the Dust Storm technique, a powerful move that could scatter his adversaries like leaves in a gale.

"It's not that simple.” He Xiangu wore a grim look. “We could talk for an age, but I have family commitments... Ones I can't easily dismiss, especially when dealing with stubborn, self absorbed demons." She looked at Hunter like he was an innocent little lamb who knew nothing of family strife. Looking away as if caught in a memory, He Xiangu added, "My mother's side of the family might be more understanding, but my father, he's a different story." Without taking a breath, she thrust her blade through a warrior flying through the air towards her. She twisted and spun, taking him down. With a savage grunt, she ended him with a swift decisive strike, severing his head from his shoulders.

She continued talking, as if killing foes was an irritating and minor interruption to their conversation. "My father is all 'do what I say,' and also, 'why haven't you finished already?'" She scowled, pinning a dying warrior to the ground. "There's no pleasing him; you didn't hear from me, but demon emperors are so high maintenance." The bitterness in her tone was enough to sour Hunter’s mood if he let it.

"But mastering your chi could give you the edge to stand up to him." Hunter glanced at her, trying to find a silver lining.

"If only it were that simple." She sighed, a hint of longing in her tone. "Come back in a hundred years. Perhaps I will have less family commitments then."

Hunter crossed his arms, cutting her off. "Will your father have mellowed into old age by then?"

"Ha! No chance!" He Xiangu attacked another warrior with a fierce growl. She threw her voice over her shoulder back to Hunter while completing her death strike. "The bastard is more difficult to deal with the older he gets. A thousand years wouldn't be long enough to soften him around the edges. I hope you're as patient as you are hopelessly optimistic."

Now she really was treating him like a child. It was time to let her know that he was much older than his years without earning her wrath.

"While I can appreciate where you're coming from, I did mention a god sent me here, and it takes an awful lot of power, so this is a one-time trip back and forth. He is not going to keep sending me back to try and win you over. If you refuse to join me in the tower, I’ll have to move on to the next initiate."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Her eyebrow arched at the mention of other recruits, a flicker of interest—or was it rivalry—crossing her face?

"Yes, eleven more initiates to recruit, just so you know. You're special, but there's a bigger picture." Hunter watched her closely, ready for any reaction.

For a moment, her expression darkened, and Hunter thought he might have pushed too far. Then, unexpectedly, she softened, almost pity in her eyes. Not exactly what he'd been going for, but it was better than an outcome where she ended up beating him to death with his own leg.

"Gods and demons, blazes, they’re all the same.” She scoffed, looking at his ill-fitting scavenged armor. “Leaving you stranded here, weaponless and... were you naked too?"

Hunter opted not to delve into the details of his arrival, stark naked and unarmed. "Let's just say Claude’s divine sense of humor is... unique. But promises are kept. I'm here to prove that—and to make myself useful." He gestured to the bodies he'd slain to emphasize his point. "And when you have more time, come back to the tower with me. You'll be glad you did."

He Xiangu didn’t answer right away.

She lunged at Hunter with her weapon and at the last second drove it over his shoulder. Hunter ducked and rolled to the side. Turning, he saw a giant of a warrior collapsed to the ground with her weapon sticking out of his neck. With a sharp jolt she removed it, blood spurting like a fountain from the fallen warrior.

They fought back-to-back, a whirlwind of steel and shadow, until they stood amidst a sea of fallen foes. The scope of their carnage was staggering, a grim landscape of death that stretched as far as the eye could see.

There was no time to talk as more warriors circled them. One by one, they picked them off, each one tasting the blade of Hunter and He Xiangu as they sent them to meet their ancestors.

In a blood-soaked blur, Hunter found himself surrounded by a mountain of bodies. Wiping blood and sweat from his face, his chest heaved as he struggled to take in the sheer scale of the battlefield in the depths surrounding him, no matter where he looked. It was a far cry from even the largest burial pits that contained the infected back on Death Island.

He Xiangu watched him with an almost predatory interest. “Is this getting too much for you boy, do you need a rest?”

I’m NOT a boy!

He held back the urge to yell his name in her face. Unleashing his aura he stared back in defiance. “My name is Hunter.”

He Xiangu nodded and smiled in approval. “A strong name.” She pointed in the direction of a monstrous beast. “Let’s see if you can handle something on four legs as well as you can enemies on two legs.”

The ground quaked beneath them from the force of thunderous hooves.

Hunter searched the battlefield to find the source. It belonged to what looked like a stallion carved from a mountain, its tan coat shone as its amber eyes locked on him with a murderous fury. Its teeth gnashed and chomped, flecks of bloodied froth dripping from its mouth as it charged towards him, promising death and dismemberment.

Hunter braced himself, raising his weapon; he dug his feet into the blood-soaked soil. Suddenly a blazing light tore across his vision as a golden spear-shaped chi construct tore right through the flank of the fierce monster horse. Its eyes bulged, going wide as if it was the first time it had known pain or fear.

Hunter shook off the surprise. Seconds earlier the damn beast had reminded him of the Night Mare, Alice, with its superior stride and unbreakable, unshakable spirit.

As it fell to the ground injured, Hunter advanced towards it, keeping his weapon ready for any threat. The beast’s aura rippled around its form, like tendrils seeking him out. Chi spun from his core flooding his energy channels in response. He focused on his Beast Tamer skills to identify the injured beast.

[Name: Bloodbane

Age: 8 years

Energy type: Dark Plasma; Mana

Bond type: Slave

Relationship: Hostile

Specialization: War]

A shadow fell over him as He Xiangu watched him work.

Chi extended from his hands, a glowing white stream brushed the demon beast’s mane back from its frantic eyes as its head dipped low. The dirt below dampened by drops of bloodied saliva.

A notification popped up on his HUD.

[Basic Skill Scroll: Beast Calm. One technique with three levels of mastery to soothe beasts.

Mastery Level One: Breath of Fresh Air. Use Wind chi to cool the fury of wild beasts.

The following two mastery levels are locked until level one is mastered.]

Trusting himself, his confidence soared knowing the brief work with Alice had paid off. His heart rate slowed with every breath he took, the beast’s aura flowed like ribbons of light forming an intricate web of energy. To his surprise, the monster laid down.

He was sure he heard a little gasp of awe from He Xiangu as the beast calmed and accepted his help. But when he looked up, her eyes were cold, her expression hard. “I could’ve done that.” She kneeled and applied a salve, which, he assumed by the gods awful stench, to be something like the healing ointments he’d endured back home.

Hunter’s slingshot reply packed a punch. “Could you have, though?”

Now seemed the perfect time to challenge her and earn himself some respect. He would never get her to listen, never convince her to go with him if she didn’t have any respect for him and what he had to say. Hunter always chose his battles wisely, but now it was time to take a stand.

Giving the beast a gentle pat, Hunter stood, squaring off, keeping his eyes locked on He Xiangu. She took a step back as if more concerned with the welfare of the monster horse. Slowly, she nodded her head. “Okay, beast boy. How the hell do you do that?”

Hunter held back a grin. “Come to the tower, and I’ll show you.”

For a moment, there was a glimmer in her eyes like she was undecided, her confident stance not so confident.

Then some lower-level, shit-munching demons had to ruin the moment.

“In the name of the demon emperor, I lay down my life.” The demon screeched a call to arms that made no sense to Hunter. Then the wretched creature charged straight at a very sharp-looking golden sword and impaled himself on it, doing all the hard work while the warrior looked on in confusion. He looked at his brothers-in-arms flanking him and shrugged, then kicked the dead demon free from his blade while more demons followed the example, impaling themselves on countless swords of the golden army.

He Xiangu growled. “I’ve had it up to here with these idiots... They’re like lemmings falling off a cliff, once one does it—” she finished up with a hack and slash attack that took a warrior's arm off at the shoulder.

She crushed the limb beneath her boot and charged on unleashing hell and torment on the warriors that crossed her path. When there were none left to challenge her she surveyed the battlefield, giving Hunter time to reach her side.

Her eyes narrowed as she wiped the bloody pulp from her boots on a rock. “There's real sacrifice in war. It's not about the deaths that occur; it's about what survives. What remains is the reason the war began.” She readied her sword, her gaze shifting back to the lower-level demons. “Even they understand that, to an extent.”

Hunter nodded, still not fully grasping the demons' sacrifice but understanding that the idea behind the war endured. “My father said something similar the last time I saw him.” His chest tightened as his thumb rubbed the storage ring his father had given him. “He didn't have to go to war. He chose to go, knowing it might be the last time he'd see his family— a wife, a daughter, and a son.”

He Xiangu's jaw set in a hard line. “And what did he tell you when he returned?”

“He didn't.” Hunter took a deep breath, holding back any sense of longing that had started to creep into his soul.

He Xiangu stared at him, the crimson tinge in her eyes vanishing. There was a moment of shared understanding as she took on a more human appearance. She closed her eyes as if forcing back tears.

Then the moment was gone.

Her eyes snapped open, red-rimmed, she spoke with a ruthless edge in her voice. “Well, I have to fight on; I don't have a choice. I want this to end before there's any more demon blood.” She charged forward with a battle cry, her sword twirled as she leapt from one rock to the next in a trail of black smoke.

Hunter lifted his glaive and followed, using his chi-enhanced Wind Fall technique to pick up his pace and joining her in the next battle. Holding his own, the deaths on his hands were not any less memorable than the lives he’d taken earlier.

After what seemed like endless hours of fighting, they stood on a hill, overlooking the battlefield, as He Xiangu addressed her demon army. “The enemies lay slain, their bloodletting is a sacrifice in its own right to our soils, feeding the Underworld. We have our honor; let them claim their dead.”

She raised her sword high, its blade engulfed in black, billowing smoke. “We will claim ours. Incinerators, take care of them.”

A loud roar erupted from demons as a few beasts emerged from the crowd, raised on hind legs.

Hunter tilted his head, getting a closer look.

No, those weren't demon beasts; they were scaled demons. Wings flicked free from their cloaks, spreading wide, taking flight across the slain warriors. As their eyes locked onto the demon remains, they released a piercing screech and snapped their fingers.

What remained of the demons on the battlefield burst into flames.

He Xiangu glanced at him. “I need to speak with my father.”

“After all of this?” Hunter crossed his arms, broadening his stance.

He Xiangu’s lips pursed. “I appreciate the enlightenment that you provided in our battle. I wish you good fortunes but this is where we part ways.”

Hunter shook his head. “No need to say goodbye, Bravo; I'm coming with you.”