In this world, it is common knowledge that one is considered to be a young adult at the age of 14 and any of the younglings reaching this age have to go through a ritual called the coming of age ceremony.
It is known that it has 3 phases, first, praying to the gods , second sacrifice the blood of some hunted beasts, third awakening. It might seem simple, but simple is no way to describe it as it affects the destiny of these young adults!
One has to know that praying is only an act of courtesy! As Gods tend to give no heed to random mortals! As for beasts blood, it is sacrificed in hope for the young ones to gain some kind of affinity or ability of the sacrificed beast! The better the blood The better the chances! But still it does indeed need a miracle for that to happen as the chances are 1 in ten thousand people!
Awakening happens when one finished the ritual, during the ritual, one sits inside the pattern drawn by beast blood . This pattern is built around an altar that every village has! And when the rituals ends, no matter if one managed to gain an ability or not , he gets a tremendous boost in his basic abilities!
The Trio had 6 months till they reach their coming of age, and knowing one needed blood , they immediately thought about strange beasts! for them , normal beast just wouldn't do! and it was best that one finds a beast that he finds most befitting to himself!
the trio decided to split up and each one hunts his own beast considering this some kind of trial.
Eric's Pov :
" I need to fight myself an eagle! as they always helped improve my eyesight and reaction speed , the best things for an archer" Thought Eric as he headed towards a Cliff
He reached the Cliff and looked down , he saw a nest , not big but not too small either, it had an Eagle about 1.5 meters laying there. Seeing that it was just a small one, Eric paid it no heed as he wanted to find the best for his ceremony .
And just as he was leaving the sun reflected in his eyes almost blinding him. he looked around and found nothing metallic that might reflect the sun light. He looked down once again and said :
" what the hell! its feathers are actually metallic! wait, why is the end of each feather golden!"
Eric, even with his superior vision, failed to notice it at first. He hesitated no more and brought out his bow and launched and arrow towards it but the arrow just reflect off its feathers with no scratch.
Eric expected it to leave some scratch but none?! he instantly knew that to win he had to blind this eagle and he decided to target its eyes, it was then that he saw it had golden eyes!
the eagle rose and attacked Eric dodging all his hail of arrows, Eric kept on retreating back into the forest but the golden eyed eagle refused to give up! And no matter how Eric hid it still saw him.
But during the fight Eric was not afraid but calm and a bit excited! Predator vs Predator! he was analysing its fighting pattern , he noticed that each arrow that targeted its eyes would be blocked by both wings and then it would continue its assault! Eric now can blind one of its eyes but he knew that once he did so it would flee! so he had to blind both at once , and for that reason he bet all on trying something he never did before! and it was in a life and death fight! he launched two arrows and grabbed other Two arrows while veins bulged from his arms , the eagle seemed to notice danger and somehow dashed with speed double the first! Eric retreated but his left arm still got an injury by the claw.
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The eagle rose up in the air somewhat exhausted after using this dash , Eric on the other hand noticed the delay in its movement and grasped this chance launching two arrows while withstanding the injury of his left arm. The eagle defended with both wings and just as it removed them another two arrows hit it right in both eyes blinding it! and it fell to the ground defeated.
Eric on the other hand had now injuries on the right arm as well! using this tactic took too much toll on his current body! and twice at that! he had mastered "triple strike" but this was not triple but quadriple with delay and instantenous launch! Even tough he had a smile on his face from this achievement, he knew that if the last strike failed the only thing he could do then is run!
Cross's Pov :
Cross also wished for the best and he desired the tiger's strength , so he went to the highest mountain searching for a befitting tiger!rival! He was strolling around while aware of the surroundings of course .
then he felt some kind of resonance inside of his head which pointed to a certain direction! without controlling his body he started rushing in that direction, after a bit he found a black dot from afar rushing towards him as well!
when the two reached each other, one was Cross, the other was not a dot it was a tiger 4meters long and 2 meters in height! it was dual colored! Black with red stripes while its forehead had a red tattoo of 2 vertical thick strips with a thin one crossing both horizontally. It was the king of the mountain! No one can challenge its prestige! it growled towards Cross and surprisingly Cross growled towards it as well with some kind of understanding! The pearl he once ate from the tattooed tiger glowed inside of his heart where it now lays!
the two rushed at each other ! normally Cross has no way to beat this beast! maybe it would be possible with his brothers along side him and after much effort and injuries they might win ! but now with the help of the pearl which layed inside him for years had already integrated with his body as one considered another organ! It strengthened him when facing beast of the same kind but the reason it awakened this time was because the tiger in front had bloodline from its natural enemy!
Cross had no way to know this as he was fighting for his life! the fight last an hour with no one gaining any advantage. Cross knew he had no way to beat this beast , they both on equal grounds! So he tightened his grip on the axe and veins bulged from his legs and arms and rushed at the tiger
leaving intentionally some openings and jumped at the tigers, the tiger took the chance and bit towards him and clawed as well. Cross mastered up all his strength using the skill he had managed to learn after years of training! it was kind of a passive skill which enabled him to exert more force than he possibly could for a short period of time! he called it "Overdrive". After which he threw the axe towards the skull with all his might and then just as quickly he tried to grab the claw heading towards him . The claw struck his chest but did not send him flying as he used his hands to grab onto it and change direction into going under it and hammered it with both fists continuously! the tiger guarded against axe by lowering its head a bit still the axe managed to injure it and it did not expect that Cross would not get sent flying after it striked him and managed to break its ribs! with these kind of injuries it was no longer a fight but a slaughter!
" Damn , one mistake and i would have been gone for good!" sighed Cross as He looked at his injuries. He had stronger resilience and recovery so it would take much less time for these injuries to heal.