My body felt numb, my nerves tingled as I heard a voice ask, “Hey, hey are you still there?” Trying to focus, I kept my eyes closed and started to fill my feet with innate energy. It made me angry that someone was hunting me for no reason at all.

I hadn't done anything wrong, the 8 Emperors could go die for all I cared. Escaping his grip with a strong leap, his smile widened in satisfaction. Bracing myself once more, I summoned my innate energy to further increase the strength of my Demon Form. "So, you weren't dead after all! That's wonderful," he said mockingly. His presence was unbearable, I then released a pulse of purple energy towards the sky using my sword, signaling to Keiko and Yukito that I was here and needed back-up.

I was aware that this foe wouldn't be an easy one to defeat, even while I had my Demon Form activated. “Hey! What are you doing? Don’t expend your energy on useless things; you should use it to become stronger, so the fight will be exciting!" he said sagely.

I dashed towards him with great speed, my arms radiating energy as I went to cut his head off. He managed to get out of the way just in time, jumping away and throwing a shock wave at me. I dodged it and tried to attack again, but he retaliated by counterattacking. For miles around, the only sounds that could be heard were those from my purple-hued blade and his silver fast fists clashing together.

With a few more minutes of clashing, the fight took a momentary pause. A part of the green and vibrant forest was now scattered with destruction. "What else are you capable of?" the hunter asked. Taking no time to answer, I used my newest move: <(Sword Demon Dance 6th Form: Lunar Beam)> My sword began glowing a regal purple hue. The aura quickly dissipated, leaving my blade illuminated with an ample amount dense of innate energy.

My hunter smiled, showing off his bloody teeth. "Not bad boy, show me more of this power!" he exclaimed. A brilliant violet light shot out of my sword towards the hunter, who quickly dodged one swing but lost hand to the other swing. As his hand dropped onto the ground he quickly cauterized his arm with innate energy. Then made some distance between us, realizing that it wasn't a ray of energy but an extension of it.

"You're dead, kid!" he yelled in rage. I felt my remaining energy draining from me — at this point, I had only seventeen percent left and was somewhat fatigued. The hunter then shouted out, <(Metal Enhancement 5th Form, Metallic Multiplication!)>". I prayed that Keiko or Yukito had seen my call for help; if this kept up, I'd be dead.

In a matter of seconds, two metallic replicas came out from the hunter's form. Both copies put up their own stance and flared their auras to life, surrounding their fists and shins in metal. My Demon Form senses alerted me that these copies were weaker, most likely sharing their power between themselves. I got ready to defend myself with my blade as they remained silent,most likely communicating with each other telepathically.

Then, one disappeared whilst the other charged for me.

Spreading my senses to be alerted of the one that disappeared, while doing so I easily overpowered the metallic copy. It's movements where too slow as I dodged then sliced its head off, it still continued its attack. Then whist in the middle of cutting the copy in half it's innate energy disappeared, making it turn into nothingness before I could fully destroy it. The hunter who was back to normal blitzed forth its fist mere inches from the back of my head, my brain screamed in warning but my body wouldn't be able to move or block in time the speed at which he was traveling was powered by momentum.

One of the metallic hunters quickly launched itself away, while the other hastily charged towards me. Despite being distracted by the one that disappeared, I was able to detect and counteract the movements of its clone in front of me. My sword slashed through the air as I swiftly dodged and evaded the hunter's attacks, eventually cutting off its waist with ease. Strangely enough, just before I could finish my strike, the metal creature suddenly evaporated into nothingness. In that moment of bewilderment, my senses registered a sudden surge in power behind me, and before I had time to act or defend myself, my senses told me that a powerful fist was inches away from the back of my head.

It was too late; no matter how fast my brain screamed for me to move, there wouldn't be enough time to react.

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A gust of strong wind blew the hunter's fist away with a loud . "More brats?!" the annoyed hunter yelled. "That just means more dead bodies!" the hunter yelled once more. Yukito then landed right beside me, "We heard you call for help, sorry I was late an instructor gave us trouble." "It's all right," I told him. "Where's Keiko?" I asked. "She'll be here soon," he replied. "She's just getting her last few points.". "I see," I responded. "Let's get to destroying him then," Yukito suggested. "Of course," I agreed as we each activated whatever energy we had left.

Yukito and I had sparred enough times that we were familiar with each other's styles, like our favorite desserts. He attacked first with "<(Water blade 6th form, Raging Rapids!)>". His aura coated sword swept through the air, picking up speed as he went. In response, I called out "<(Sword Demon Dance 1st Form, Crescent Dash)>", quickly circling around and striking at the hunter from behind at an incredible velocity.

The hunter, unwilling to accept defeat cried out "I'll defeat you both!" His reinforced hands lifted in defiance, his eyes ablaze with determination. Despite his show of strength, our combined power of will and might drove our blades through his skin and limbs, leaving him dead in a pool of his own blood. My Demon Form then deactivated due to having almost no Innate energy left, leaving my body feel the kick of adrenaline fade and making me tired.

Grabbing the 3 point badge, I approached Yukito. "Hey, we should head back now; Keiko is probably worried by now." He nodded in agreement and said, “I guess so...let's go.” Our bodies ached from exhaustion as we made our way steadily back to the entrance. While on our walk back I asked him to keep what happened today a secret, he nodded.

We reached the entrance and spotted a few other people, including Keiko. Yukito called out her name, and she trudged over to meet us. "Why do you two look so banged up?" she asked warily. I lied through my teeth, replying, "The instructor was too powerful." Instructor Kim then addressed the group, saying, "Everyone who's passed the final test should come and hand in their points in exchange for a new weapon." A line began forming; after allowing some people to stay and kicking others out, Kim walked up to us and asked for proof of our success. In unison we declared, "Here they are" in different moods while presenting our points. Instructor Kim then gestured towards a nearby tent with a wave of his hand and said, "Make your way there and wait for further instructions." We nodded in agreement.

Stepping into the tent, I noticed a few others with varying degrees of injuries. People's gazes lingered on my bruises for a moment before quickly looking away. After taking a seat, instructor Kim entered with a bag filled with colorful katanas. For those with enough money, they could order a customized set. Luckily, Yukito had been kind enough to buy me one since I had very little money.

I pulled my sword from its sheath, which was a plain black color. The blade glimmered like obsidian in the light, with the guard a deep purple and the handle being wrapped in a combination of deep purple and black. I glanced over at Yukito to find his eyes wide as he admired his own blade; its sheath was brown while the blade itself had shades of white and light blue. Keiko's eyes were also lit up with excitement as she revealed her sword—the sheath was black and the blade a mix of black and dark blue.

Having separated once leaving the Academy, I made my way to my apartment and left with bag in hand. A sense of purpose rushing through me, I proceeded to the gate, filled with thoughts about why the 8 Emperors wanted me. After all, I was just an orphan. Then the thought of the strange demonic copy of myself flooded my mind; could that be what they were after? Even if it was, what could they possibly want with it?

Just as I made my way through the gate Yukito and Keiko rushed up to me "Yo Hikaru" Yukito said with a somber sigh. "I guess this is goodbye."

"Yeah, I guess this is" I replied, giving him a fist bump. "Let's make sure we find each other stronger the next time we meet."

"You'd better get stronger!" he said back.

"Take care of yourself too, Keiko," I said to her.

"You as well," she replied.

Leaving through the gate we went our separate ways, beginning adventures that would alter our lives, our paths destined to cross again.