I was one of the first to pass the test. Actually, the second.

One the other side of the towers lead to the top of a hill. Apparent was a metal forest, in which the beast hunt would begin. An officiator was waiting, along with the mage from before. He gave me a single glance, and nothing more. Clearly not the talkative type.

“You are the second to pass, congratulations.” Said the officiator, and he told me to wait. I ruminated on what I just learned in the martial arts.

A little while later, entered Johnson, covered in cuts, seeming to have passed. He saw me and ran up, babbling on.

“Bro, first, I had to cut down all these discs shooting at me, they cut me up pretty bad, then came this ninja robot thing, man I swear I almost died. I narrowly decapitated the robot menace after a perfect parry, it was amazing, man. Then the old sword guy said I had talent. Me! Talent! Isn’t that something? Ahhhhh, what happened to you?”

“I dodged some Steel balls, punched some robots, and a strange bald man told me he would train me.”

“So, it was basically the same thing?” he asked.

“Yep.” I responded.

“Huh, I wonder what it was like for that guy,” he motioned toward the mage. “Did he fight a magic robot? Did he dodge lightning bolts? Hmph, I hate mages, always so cocky and arrogant, look at him just sitting there. Like some dumbass with his eyes closed. Hmph.”

“Damn, dude, what did the mages ever do to you?”

“You’ll see what I mean one day. People like that look down upon everything.”

Soon enough, the towers had filtered around half the people down, and stage 2 of the test began. This time, the old swordsman spoke in solemn tones.

“You will have until sundown to hunt the iron beasts roaming these forests. You very well may be killed at this stage. Any who fear death should leave now. You will be required to obtain at least 5 iron cores per person. You may team up. You may steal from each other. “

Beasts of a certain strength eventually formed a core, I had gained one when I transformed into the blood horde. If ever directly crushed, I would die in an instant.

“The test begins now.”

This was a much more freeform test. Many abilities could be put to use, such as persuasion, thievery, and manipulation. I was eager to begin. This would be a good one for me. While I may have learned a little in the tower, this would propel me straight up in power.

Beast blood, once again. I felt like an addict who was close to getting his dosage.

Johnson patted my shoulder, “Five each will be tough, and we only have until sundown, which is five or six hours. Hmmmm, let's be careful and see what type of beasts are here.”

I looked at Johnson. The small, fragile man. I guess we were now a team, which may put a crimp on my style here. Oh well.

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“Let’s move fast, and stay behind me.” I strode forward, as others began moving forward at different speeds. I walked at a simple pace, reaching a far distance from the others.

“You should cut yourself.” Suddenly sounded from my mind. “I mean, it will attract the scent of other beasts. Beasts are most attracted to other beast blood.”

Well fine, then.

I suddenly turned my right forearm into a sword, which scared Johnson back a few steps. “You can do that?” he questioned.

I looked at him, “Johnson, I didn’t lie to you when we first met.” And cut my forearm on the other side, spilling a deep, red blood on the silvery grass before the wound healed. The howling of beasts could be heard soon after, with many rushing forward. It seemed this blood was particularly potent.

Large groups of Metal wolves, hawks, and snakes came only minutes after the blood was spilled. Hundreds of them in sight.

A slaughter began.

The hawks were ripped apart by my blade, the wolves getting smashed into pieces by my tail. I threw punches with the other arm, my movement now more balanced than before. I used sound and sight to my advantage. The snakes were stomped out.

Johnson stood close to my side now, and He was able to bring down a few beasts in the chaos. He was abnormally calm in these moments, it seems. When the first wave died down, I grabbed a core and ate one.

Johnson’s eyes widened like saucers.

“I told you I was a beast from another land.” I responded.

I tossed 10 to the side, and ate all the rest. Some of the braver animals attacked, and were quickly cut down. As they backed off slowly, I felt my body harden itself many times over. My sword growing sharper, on the precipice of change. Then came a loud bellow, as a large ape came stomping through. It was the size of an elephant, with a copper coat of fur. As it leaped into the air, its coppery fingers became swords.

Finger swords. Incredible.

“Be careful, that’s a copper-finger Gorilla!” Johnson warned.

I laughed at the name internally, but when it pointed its finger, extending it into a copper sword upwards of ten feet, I stopped laughing. It nicked my armor, and my tail extended into a spear, with a tinge of iron, piercing through the gorilla’s shoulder. It roared loudly, and it extended all the fingers on its hand, conjoining them to form a great sword. It was strong, and swung its arm wildly.

The forest was chopped up, Johnson had positioned himself quite far from the ape, but was now facing multiple beasts. I squatted down, and shot forward with beastly strength, using my body as an arrow. I ran straight through the copper ape. A human sized hole now making it a doughnut, it swiped its tail at me before turning and running.

I was struck by the sudden swipe, and when I saw it running away in fear, I regrew the harpy’s wings out of blood. I took to the skies, and quickly dived downwards like a hawk, again using my body as an arrow. Another hole in the heart finished it. I grabbed its core and gulped it in one bite, not having time to savor the taste. My sword arm transformed downwards, multiplying, and strengthening into finger swords.

By the time I ran back to Johnson, he was being eaten by wolves. He was torn up, his arms, legs, and face nearly unrecognizable. A golden wolf was gnawing at him. He breathed still, barely. The sight was gruesome.

My first friend, torn into pieces.

This was the first time I lost my senses. Rage burst forth in ungodly fervor. Blood exploded out of my back like a volcano, and my form faded into a puddle. From above and below, blood swarmed, into fragments of humans and beasts.

A horde. Quickly consuming all beasts in sight. The wolves, the snakes, the hawks were not even able to escape the tide. Everything not consumed was not a beast, and was now soaked in my blood. My body spread thin, and outwards.

“Hey, little star!” Screamed the Lord of stars.

A raging bloodlust, I smelled so many more beasts left in the forest. I spread outward, lunging instinctively. A cobalt hawk was consumed. A tin ape, another golden wolf, a silver snake.

“Little Star!”

The instructors above noticed that blood began spraying like a geyser had gone off, it was noticeable from miles away.

“Hey, John...”

And just as sudden as it appeared, the blood geyser disappeared. A humanoid reforming in its place.