He then turned to the beast and flouted, "You think I am scared of you just because you are three and half feet tall? Or do you think I'll kneel before you to plead for our freedom just because you are heavy bodied or what? Let me tell you something, in my eyes, you're just a dead dog bluffing. If you think you are capable enough, come show me what you're made of fool!"
After hearing what the young man said, the ape was immediately enraged. It gave out a loud roar before charging at Ochieng' like an arrow shot from it's bow. At the same time, its scarlet furs stood up, shrouded with blue flames. It's blue eyes were extremely wet with yellow fluid. The heat that it radiated burned everything that he passed. Mudho's heart skipped a bit. It wanted to block Ochieng' to protect him from the ape but knew he couldn't allow it to.
The Invincible Stance!
Ochieng sighed deeply before taking his greatest stance. He withdrew his sword from its sheath and lifted it just above his head. He hardened his muscles, closed his eyes and waited for what was to come. The two beasts were confounded by this sight.
Did he look down on the ape so much?
Or was he just putting an act? How could he confront furious ape with his eyes closed?
Mudho jumped to the side and watched the battle anxiously. It could not be of any help to Ochieng' as it was extremely weaker than him. Instead, it could only be a burden to him as he would have to protect it and fight for their lives at the same time.
The man and beast at last got close and Ochieng' immediately opened his eyes. The ape sent its huge fist to his chest. The cuss dodged to the side and slapped the right cheek of the animal with the side of his sword. The beast only retreated five steps behind its hand on the slapped cheek. The flames that shrouded it a moment ago dissipated. It looked at the young man with shock.
Mudho did not believe its eyes. It knew they were finished the moment the ape made its move. However, Ochieng' gave it the surprise of the season. It really never expected that Ochieng' could be slightly stronger than the ape. It felt like jumping to celebrate its man but it knew it was too early to do so.
"I underestimated you kid," the ape heaved a deep sigh before continuing, "however, today your life will end. Let us see how you are going to deal with this..."
As soon as it finished, the blue flames shrouded it again. This time round, they were more condensed. The yellow fluids were now crystal clear. With a loud roar, it mixed the fluid and the flames until they became one. It then sent the mixture with force toward Ochieng.
The mixture cut through the air with raging speed toward Ochieng'. Whatever it came across, it reduced to ash. If this mixture landed on Ochieng', he could be reduced to ash just like those other objects.
The Interweaving of Swords Defensive Skill!
He immediately executed his most powerful defensive martial skill. This is a skill he learned from one of the most powerful ancestors of the Lu tribe Chief Ogonya in a dream. Chief Ogonya lived a century before the birth of Ochieng'. Chief Ogonya was the chief of Ndori clan when he was alive. He was known for his defensive martial skill, The Interweaving of Swords Defensive Skill.
During a combat, when a warrior encountered a powerhouse, he could use the skill to neutralize any offense of the powerhouse. The sword skill was executed by spinning the sword around the warrior at an unbelievable speed. To execute this skill, a warrior had to be powerful enough to lift a fifty kilogram stone by one hand. Flexibility level of the warrior had go to reach a profound level as well. The power of the skill made Chief Ogonya to famously known as 'The Shielder Without a Shield'
The mixture landed on the rays of the sword and its effects were extremely extenuated even though Ochieng' was forced to recede three steps. This left the ape tongue tied. 'How can he be so powerful?' The beast said to itself filled with wonderment.
"My turn! "
Ochieng' at once fled to the direction of the beast. His speed was even greater than that of the ape when it first showed up. As he flew, he pointed his sword directly to the ape. When the sword was just a feet away from the ape, it lifted its finger to block the sword but things happened too fast that it didn't even have time to react.
Ochieng withdrew his sword and when the ape thought he had conceded, the sword was removed from its sheath and slit the beast's throat and returned back to the sheath at a great speed. The ape dropped to the ground void of breath, though its eyes were still filled with dread. The moment it died, the scarlet light the ape came from disappeared as if it was never there.
"When did you become so strong?" Mudho immediately walked to his side and asked its face full of disbelief.
"Not long ago." The boy answered casually as if it was nothing big. This couldn't mean the beast didn't think it was nothing big. It was even indignant.
"Why did you hide this from me? "
"So that you couldn't be too complacent."
"But don't you see we almost got killed?"
"Let's go." The young man did not want to talk about the matter. He beckoned the lion and jumped on its back.
Even though the beast was pissed he didn't tell it about his strength beforehand, it could do nothing at that moment. After all, its life had just been saved.
"What do you think is the name of that beast?" The lion asked and it was straightaway answered with 'how would I know? Are you not the one who have lived in the forbidden land all your life?'
Knowing that its questions could annoy the lad, the animal rode him quietly in the woods of the forbidden land as they went further and further into the land. They occasionally met mysterious beasts a long the way but they dealt with them accordingly.