There is a crash. The sound of a hard object hitting stone, an unpleasant grinding as if someone is using their long nails to scratch at a blackboard.
"Hah! Is this all that a beast in the third realm is capable of?" A voice filled with pride calls. It is Ryota, he is fighting one of the horned hares that core disciple Ryo had brought with him.
Well, fighting would be the wrong term. The teen is just standing in place, his arms crossed, letting the beast attack him with everything it has got. So far the creature has been unable to scratch even the clothes on Ryota's back, and by the looks of things the horn on its head has begun to crack.
'Showoff.' Suzu rolls her eyes 'But in any case, that's what being attuned to earth and metal does.' She thinks to herself while resting on the ground like most of the disciples around her. Everyone is trying to recover their stamina, her included, but unlike the others Suzu has a little trick up her sleeve.
[Darkness Womb]
'I could have saved so much time. If I only knew that this technique could also recover one's stamina' Slight bitterness fills her core, nothing to be done about it now.
It had been the moment's inspiration to use Darkness Womb for something other than injury, a what if. It made sense that it would help recover her stamina. So she had used it… and it had worked out.
A sudden spark lights up in her mind. A great idea has been conceived!
'Maybe I could teach myself how to utilize it while I am running.' A large smile forms on her face. 'That is perfect! I can use it to restore stamina on the run, trading Qi for endurance. At the same time I could be taking in darkness Qi from the surroundings, recovering whatever had been utilized by the technique. It would only work at night, when darkness Qi saturates the environment, but I can potentially run forever!' Exhilaration and ambition fill Suzu's heart at the revelation.
It would take a lot of work, that much is true. Actively using a difficult technique, running and watching her step as to not trip, taking in the surrounding Qi, keeping alert for any potential threats while traversing the forest. Four different actions that must be done at the same time –each one demanding a large chunk of mental power.
But she is certain… it can and will be accomplished. All that Suzu needs to do is practice –with enough practice the Darkness Womb technique will demand less and less of her attention, the same concept applies to absorbing the energy of the night.
Oddly colored Qi converges on the bald disciple's fist. Ryota throws out a punch for the first time since the beginning of the battle.
"Take this!" He shouts out.
*Bang!*
An uppercut strikes the weakest point of the beast. The lower body, unprotected by any sort of bone structure and filled with many vital internal organs, is completely disintegrated.
Blood and entrails fly upwards, falling down in the form of gory rain once they reach the peak of their trajectory. Ryota laughs out loud –even as his clothing is painted red from the aftermath of his attack. Suzu scowls in discontent, unintentionally interrupting her technique when a piece of what must be the small intestine of the creature lands on her shoulder with a wet slap.
Ryota turns to face the core disciple.
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"Have I passed, master Ryo?"
"With flying colors." The man replies, unperturbed by the teen's violent display. A beam of light flies through his fingertips, one that is absorbed by Ryota's jade necklace. "You are now able to come and go from the Emerald Forest as you please, just make sure that you're carrying the necklace around at all times."
The disciple bows respectively. "Does that mean that I can venture into the forest right here and now?"
"If you would so wish, and you have the confidence to navigate the forest." Ryo replies, picking up on what the youth is inquiring about. "Usually I'd have you wait here until everyone is evaluated, returning back as one big group, but you still seem to be full of energy." He nonchalantly waves his hand. "You can go if you feel like it."
The outer disciple smiles widely. This time around his expression is honest and pure, devoid of its usual arrogance.
"Just be careful not to venture any deeper." Ryo calls out as the youth bows to leave. "You are capable of taking on a third stage beast with ease but a second stage one might very well be the end of you."
"Of course, Master Ryo." He replies, his back fading into the foliage of the forest.
For a moment nobody speaks, there is a tranquil silence engulfing the glade –only the distant ambient sounds of the forest reaching the group.
"Well, with that out of the way…" Ryo is the first one to speak. He grabs one of the unconscious hares by the horn, unceremoniously tossing it at the center of the grassy clearing. The creature does not wake up despite the rough treatment "Who's next."
A hand is raised. "Can I try, Master Ryo?" Kenki's voice resounds through the clearing.
"Naturally." The man gestures for Ken to get closer. The other disciples use that period of time to make some distance.
==========================
'I wonder if I can take the carcass of the rabbit after I kill it' Ken thinks to himself as a glance is sent at the mutilated hare that is the result of Ryota's battle. His eyes return to the knocked out beast in front of him not too long after though, his enemy is about to be woken up.
'Man… I really, really want to cook and eat this thing for some reason. It is a rabbit at the end of the day, you know?' The boy grasps the bow in hand as the Qi in his dantian churns with fire and light. 'Will it be poisonous though, I wonder if there are any scrolls talking about the subject. Perhaps I should avoid the beasts of the water element, considering that it is fire that I am cultivating.'
"Ready?" Ryo's voice drags Kenki out of his chain of thought. A wave of invisible energy leaves the man's body, moving the horned hare into the upright position, this way the beast will be standing on all fours when the core disciple releases his hold.
"Ready!" Ken calls out as he conjures an arrow --just a single one, quite the different approach from what he had demonstrated earlier in the day.
"Start!" Ryo calls out with a cheer to his voice.
The creature's eyes snap open, light visibly returning to them as brain activity resumes. There is a short-lived confusion, a furious roar is released before it even has time to take in its surroundings. It is an instinctual reaction to act out in aggression, it happens when a member of the horned hare species is tense, confused, angry, even when it is happy or sad.
Fury is always the reaction.
It is the reason why Ryo almost always chooses this species to test out fourth stage disciples. They don't run, they don't act all confused, they don't try and do anything else he doesn't intend them to do.
They just fight.
Two bloodshot eyes settle on the closest living thing they manage to perceive –Kenki.
The hind legs of the beast tense, it is ready to pounce forwards. Energy gathers on the tip of the hare's horn, sharpening and giving it more piercing strength. There is a large intake of breath, but…
Just a split moment before the beast lunges forwards, an arrow hits its mark.
Kenki fires off the glowing projectile that he'd been reinforcing and powering up in the time the hare was orienting itself. He had reckoned that focusing on quality rather than quantity would provide better results, at least on the first strike.
The sharp tip of the projectile buries itself into the eye of the beast with a great, almost imperceivable speed.
As if slicing with a hot knife through butter, the arrow continues on its path, not slowed down in the slightest by the ocular organ. It breaks through the thin bone plate separating the eye from the rest of the head and strikes directly at the brain.
The arrow detonates then and there, a usual feature of techniques utilizing the elements of fire and light. With a sound not too dissimilar to a balloon pop, the hare's head shatters into hundreds of little pieces, scattering in all directions.
*thud*
The headless body slumps down on the grass, still leaking blood.
'Huh…' Ken tilts his head in surprise, several lesser arrows already conjured and held in between his fingers. His nose scrunches up when the smell of charred rabbit blood and brain reaches him.
Not a word is uttered. Everyone had been expecting the fight to take longer, its swift conclusion is quite the shock to the system, especially after Ryota's lengthful display.
The clothes on Ken's back rustle as he turns to face his examiner, the bow that is being held at the ready is lowered while the arrows in his dominant hand are dispelled.
"Was this one's demonstration… satisfactory?" The boy asks with some hesitation.
"..."
Ryo laughs out loud at the uncertainness in Ken's voice
"It definitely was!" He says with a smile as a beam of light leaves his fingertip. The jade necklace carried by Kenki glows as it absorbs the released power.
"Congratulations! You can now freely enter the emerald forest."