I stand up with closed fists.I breathe in and breathe out.I am calm.I take a simple karate stance.Defiance in my eyes.Tiger and I circle each other.He unleashes a roar and I unleash a battle cry.We both grit our teeth and tiger pounces on me with his body at size of a boulder,weighting thousands of pounds.
He is incredibly fast but his body is big and mine is small.I have the advantage!I do not withdraw but charge.As he pounced with great speed I roll to front!Tiger's body touches ground with a boom...Are those cracks I see there?Did earth shatter?
Since now he turned his back on me I should take advantage of it.I strike his back leg from behind.I punch behind the knee.Tiger roars losing balance of its massive body for a few seconds and looks at me.He really is pissed off.My attack did no damage but merely pissed him off?
Tiger now charges!It feels like an earthquake!I quickly move to side dodging him.*BAM*I see something white coming at me and immediately taking a step back I change my body's gravity center.Now my body is leaning back and I use my arms to block.*BAM*
I was sent flying.Tiger used its tail to hit me.I did not expect that attack.I took some damage.But if I had not taken a step back,I would have been killed.For me this is a life or death battle.If I ask for elders help...NO!I cannot ask him.If I ask him then...*shudder*THIS IS...DO OR DIE!
Now tiger growing in confidence charges again.He thinks I will dodge?I stand calmly.Making my stance.Focusing what little mana I have towards one hand.He thinks I am weaker than him?In my mind I smile.I fooled you.He is very strong thus very weak!I borrow charging force and my knife hand penetrates it thick fur!Take this!In a moment I tear out his heart and withdraw instantly,not daring to stay a second longer.
He looks dumbfounded,he never expected me to beat him.I did not have any aura.Well it is not like I am strong I just am very carefully using my mana.I do not have much of it.If he had not underestimated me,if I had not gambled to use all my mana,if I had not chose to flee...There were so many ways I could die.He was truly strong.
Phew!I chew his heart.Since he is a magical beast his intelligence should be similar to human even if he is of lowest rank.Humans would be manipulated if they think everything is going according to their plan.Feigning weakness snatching victory with an ace in the hole!A basic strategy but it works well.Of course I broke my arm.Well,it will be fixed soon enough.
Flesh of a magical beast is strong.It gives body energy required to heal.Every part of this tiger should be a treasure,no part of him should go to waste.I feast on my fallen foe like a ravenous beast.It seems since I am growing my body needs mana.Since I have no way of taking it.I eat magical beast flesh every meal.
For my clan it is very easy to supply children with thousands of pounds of magical beasts.For me this huge tiger is just three meals.Of course if I think about it these magical beast meat,one steak of it should be enough for a human for a day.Yes,growing dragons are that ravenous!But I am more ravenous then them,since I always am exhausted.There is only breakfast and dinner in this world.
A dragon mother would feed his children entire cities as they grow.But of course dragons outside are just magical beasts with a bit of dragon blood.They cannot match my clan,who actually keeps magical beast valley beneath the winter palace.Where magical beasts are slaughtered for food!Like cattle!They cultivated an entire valley of magical beasts.
I am standing there flashing a smile at elder,quite proud of my victory!Since I did not even cultivate any mana!*SMACK* OUCH this again!
I did not take this lying down,once I tried to resist "Stick of Love" and then elder struck a boulder with it.Boulder was crushed to dust!After that he said"Defiance?You dare defy your teacher?Perhaps you want to challenge me?Obedience or defiance choose!"I obediently let him whip me with his stick of love some more!
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"Finally you are able to defeat that kitten"Elder says with bored eyes.He is even yawning.THAT WAS NO KITTEN,DAMN IT!!
"Teacher that was a magical beast!A tiger for heaven's sake!I have no weapons!With only bare skin on me!I managed to kill it!This tiger even grown man might not defeat it!"I spout out all my thoughts!My grievances!*SMACK*
"So you are proud of yourself?You,who is a dragon as well as this Grand Elder Tuesyr's disciple?You are proud of killing a mere kitten,huh?"I WANNA CRY!UNFAIR!THIS IS SO UNFAIR!*SMACK* *SMACK*Oh crap,I looked at him with a defiant expression there!"Oh you finally decided to defy your teacher?That it?"elder says with gleaming eyes.*SMACK*
"Of course not teacher!How can this student of yours cannot manage to kill a kitten?Is that even something worth being proud of?Just this student wanted some praise from Elder!"I say bowing my head.One day...one day,I am going to....I am gonna cry damn it!
"Is that so?" Elder says smiling"It is your fault for not being honest!So you wanted some encouragement...Then let me give you a most joyous news!You have passed warm-ups and ready to for me to teach you the basics!"I freeze...My brain stopped working...Tears fill my eyes as past few months lashed in my eyes...
There was this one time I was made to climb the mountain,god knows how many meters tall mountain,freezing to boot.Elder was there to provide assistance with the stick of love.Every time I stopped walking or climbing I was hit,then I was punished for being unable to climb mountain fast enough by Elder.
When I finally climbed mountain fast enough,he told me that I was not done climbing..Climbing was climbing up and climbing down so I had to climb back down too.Then he said he was too soft teaching me since he loved me and that my punishment was not motivating enough.When I finally told him how absurd this was,I got some more sticks of love and he threw me down the cliff...
He had also made a fighting pit for me.Where I had to run from magical beasts.I could not climb and get out.Only way to get out was beating that monster.All of them were monsters I barely could defeat if I was smart.This was supposed to train my body and provide me with the experiences of life and death battles.
When I had my first such battle with a dire wolf,I called out to elder,ran around until I was exhausted,was about to die then elder simply threw a pebble that blew a hole-no!It made the beast a gaping hole!Then I was scolded for being cowardly and weak...
Days I spent training under waterfall in horse stance,with weights on my arms and legs.When I inevitably fell,I was supposed to escape carnivorous fishes which was also magical beasts.Doing this again and again.I do not even remember how many times I saw a light at the end of the dark tunnel.I stopped counting around thousand...
Those were just warm ups...I want to laugh!Tears are going to come out!...I BARELY SURVIVED!Those were just warm ups?...Should I die like this?I cannot run away...I once tried.There are some magical beasts in the valley.For them this tiger would be a kitten indeed.I can only obediently take my training if I want to survive.
"Oh,you don't like it?We can continue you know.I also think it was not enough,but relented out of my soft heart."WHAT SOFT HEART YOU DEMON?!
"No of course not!This student is ready for basics Elder!"I resign to my fate...NOW COME HELL OR HIGH WATER!
"Basics is to live correctly.The way you breathe must be correct,the way you walk must be correct,the way you eat must be correct,the way you sleep must be correct...In short you must live correctly!"Oh,that doesn't sound so bad?Finally I can take it easy?No!This may be a trap!Elder can't be like this!