Elaith used all of his strength to hold the banefreak in place, but he forgot that his enemy was a stage-2 monster.

It was known that magic beasts were stronger and faster than the human cultivators. They have instinct built into them the moment they were born and did not need spiritual crystals to increase their strength. The magic beast had a large and unfair advantage over the humans.

So when Elaith realized that, the banefreak already grabbed his hand and slammed him to the ground.

As Elaith was about to stand, the monster kicked his face and he was sent flying a few meters away. And before he could even land, the banefreak rushed towards him and kicked him again.

The attack flipped Elaith to the sky. Falling towards the ground, Elaith prepared himself to crash. Yet the monsters attacked him again, sending him rolling on the ground.

The monsters keep attacking him left and right. With its super speed and agility, Elaith couldn't retaliate. The monster cut his cheek, and blood spurted again. It spun and cut a deep wound on his thigh.

All of this happen while Elaith was one meter above the ground. The creature didn't even wait for him to land.

After a series of attacks, the banefreak punched and slammed him to the ground. His face hit the ground first.

Elaith stood up with wounds and bruises all over him. Blood made his clothes feel sticky. Surprisingly, the wounds and the attack didn't hurt him that much. Instead, he felt revitalized. Like a contained energy within him was held inside his stomach. He couldn't explain the sensation. But he knew he had to keep fighting. His mind, body, and the energy was urging him to fight.

"Is that all you got?" Elaith breathed with difficulty. "I have all day to do this. Come at me!"

The banefreak took that as a challenge and rushed towards him. Its movement was like a blur that was followed by a cloud of dust. It appeared in front of him before he could even blink.

Elaith raised his sword to block. But the creature was fast to react. It spun and slapped away the sword before slashing his chest. Blood spurted out.

Elaith grabbed the creature's arm and punched it in the face. It looked surprised that a mere stage-1 human could do that to it. The creature was about to pull his hand before Elaith spit in its face and head-butted it.

The banefreak roared. It then spun behind Elaith and razed his back with wounds.

Elaith turned to face the monsters. It grabbed his wrist and stabbed his arm. The bone-blade pierced through his bone.

Wincing in pain, Elaith stabbed the creature's eyes with his fingers. The creature pulled back its blade and was blinded for a moment. He threw another handful of dirt before grabbing his sword and charging at it.

He went in for the kill. Unfortunately, the creature kicked him back.

His dirty tricks had failed, but he wouldn't give up. Grabbing a handful of rocks, he threw them at the creature. Targeting its eyes as his primary target.

The creature easily dodged the rocks. His aim was precise, which actually made it easier for the banefreak to dodge since he didn't have to guess which direction to move.

Elaith grabbed his sword and threw a few rocks again.

As the rock shot towards the creature's face, it slipped his head to the side only to be greeted by the sharp point of the blade. The creature twisted its neck, avoiding a certain death injury. The sword pierced its cheek and went to the other side. The creature now had a sword in his mouth.

It pulled the sword and threw it away.

Elaith grimaced. This creature was really hard to kill. Almost every trick he threw at it was countered or dodged. Facing a speed-type monster was never easy. But then the energy inside his body started churning. It told him to fight again.

Elaith breathed out. "Come on!"

He charged and attacked, but the banefreak was a step quicker. It ducked and cut his abdomen.

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Elaith roared and send a punch to the creature's chest. He gave his all in every attack.

The banefreak dodged. It was about to cut his arm before Elaith pulled it back. The monster slammed his face, sending him flying again.

Elaith stood up. His feet wobbled, and he felt pain all over his body. But suddenly, like a crystal shattering, the energy contained within him burst and healed his wound. The nasty gash on his arm was enclosed as fibers and muscles regenerated before being covered by the skin.

"What is this power?" Elaith asked.

The banefreak dashed and slammed its feet into him. It cracked his bone, and the bone stabbed into his heart.

Elaith coughed out blood. Just as he thought he was about to die, the energy healed him again. The bone returned to its place.

The banefreak attacked again. Elaith could only block and tried to dodge as much as possible. The monster sent out a flurry of attacks. Hundreds of cuts appeared on his body. His red robes now seemed like a beggar's clothes. The monster's movement was like the wind. Hard to see and quick. The bony-blade only appeared like a flash of glistening light as it cut his body time and time again.

But there was a certain pattern to the creature's movement. Elaith studied them. When he thought he found a pattern, he moved in a certain way to avoid getting cut. When he failed he analyzed the pattern again. He kept falling and failing. Wounds all over his body.

Yet, As time passed, Elaith learned how to avoid fatal injury to his body. He copied how the monster moved, by twisting his body left and right, or by spinning around.

It was to the point where the banefreak almost couldn't land a hit on him. Elaith moved gracefully, predicting the monster's movement like it was a dance that he had memorized for years.

The swish and swash of the banefreak blade echoed around the volcano. The banefreak increased its speed, and it seemed the creature was rather desperate to land a hit. Elaith kept on dodging. He zigzagged, rolled, and ducked. Sometimes, he didn't even need to see the banefreak to dodge.

Laeroth and Vamir were impressed by the movement.

"He's not faster nor stronger than the banefreak, but he dodged all of its attack," Laeroth said.

"He knew the pattern of the enemy's attack. Monsters aren't that intelligent compared to humans. This is why they can be defeated with techniques."

"That may apply if the monster and the person have the same stage of power. Elaith is just a stage-1 swordsman."

As Elaith rolled on the ground, he threw a rock straight at the banefreak's face. The banefreak knew this trick. It grinned as it thought how foolish the human was for using the same trick again. It slapped the rock away with its blade.

The rock was cut into two horizontally, and what appear between that horizontal gap was a bright blazing blade! The sword landed on the banefreak's arm, crunching its bony blade.

Successfully deceiving his opponent, Elaith swung the sword to the other hand. The blazing fire was like a raging wave, as it cut the creature's wrist.

The banefreak roared. Its hand fell to the ground, five fingers wriggling. It was shocked at how easily the human cut its hand. He was a fast-type monster but his body was not fragile.

Elaith noticed the reaction of the creature and used that opportunity to push his sword straight to its abdomen. The move however left his face wide open for a counter-attack. The banefreak reacted quickly. As his blade pierced through the creature and out of its back, the monster slashed his nose.

Elaith had pulled back his head when the blade landed. Only a shallow wound was left across both cheeks and nose.

The energy within him raged. Like a violent wave in a sea storm, it exploded with thunder and lightning and crashed all over his body.

"Ahh!"

His eyes glowed fire. A volcano within him was about to erupt. He didn't know where this energy came from and why was it there. But Elaith knew he had to expend it somewhere.

With gritted teeth, Elaith made a fist. His muscles bulged. Then a huge flame burst out of him, covering his body from top to bottom. He rushed towards the monster. His feet made a hole on the ground, cracking it. Followed by a trail of fire, Elaith punched the monster straight to its face. With the speed of thunder, he crashed into the monster, blasting its face and burning its body into ashes.

Elaith roared like an apex predator defeating a worthy foe. His scream was loud, shaking the rocks around him. The blazing fire on his body blared. Like an erupting mountain, it burst. Exploding towards the sky, his roar cracked like thunder.

"He's a stage-2 now!" Laeroth said.

"I can't believe he gets to this level that quick," Vamir said.

"Brother Elaith is so awesome!"

"It's only been a few years since Elaith joined the sect. How could he advance so fast!"

"This is why the Elder is taking care of him personally. He knows that Elaith is talented."

Laeroth glanced at the juniors. His mouth turned into a smirk. If they knew that Elaith was expected to be the future sect master, how would they react?

He then looked at the distance. But would that time arrive before they come?

Vamir tapped his waist with the back of his hand. "When the time comes. We have to take him away."

"I know."

Elaith approached them with tattered clothes yet his skin was in pristine condition. There was no bruise or any other wounds that were visible.

"Senior brother," Elaith raised both of his palms.

Laeroth smiled. "You have made us proud, Elaith. Now that you are a stage-2 swordsman, you don't have to call us seniors." He grabbed the sword on his back and gave it to Elaith.

Elaith shook his head. "I don't want your sword, senior brother."

"You're going to make me look like I'm turning on my words."

"No one is going to think that way," Elaith said. "I just wanted to thank, you. You need the sword more than I do. And I will still be calling you senior brother."

Laeroth laughed. "So you're saying I need the sword more because I'm weaker? Alright, I think I need to teach you who's the senior here."

"Please teach me as much as you can."

"You know what I'm in a good mood today. Why don't we go to the Boiling Crystal Mine."