"Huh!"
Shen said response Shen was the lowest mortal rank and couldn't beat runza, Let alone the strongest fighter/mage in the temple who is a grandmaster fire rank.
All of this made it feel as if a bucket of ice- water was dropped on Shen's head.
"Let me finish, I will not use full power, And I will be restricted to physical attack. No magic since you only know how to heal minor injuries. only sparing. I'll be honest you've been here a long time and frankly, You haven't been the most remarkable disciple nor the most well behaved. " Shu sent a glare his way sending shivers down Shens spines
"But," Shu continues "If you were to defeat me even if I was holding back they may see you in a much different light you see?" Shen felt the weight of the fact that he truly had no choice, And he did want to be remembered so why not be known for beating the grandmaster.
"How long do I have to prepare?" Shen said.
"One-month" Shu replied holding his index finger in the air
"Only a month? You want me to get better than you in a month?!?!?" Shen screamed.
"Would you rather it be a day? " Shu snapped back at Shen and glared with one eyebrow raised.
"No! a month is fine!" Shen replied. Shen replied with a fake smile and sweat on his face
Shu scoffed "Very well, then you are to leave here tonight."
"Huh? why today?" Shen responded. His jaw-dropping to the floor
"Because I think you need time away from the temple, And away from the other students," Shu said while walking to the door.
"....Yeah, that's fair," Shen said. He couldn't argue with that logic.
"I want you to go gather the things you leave at sundown, and a word of advice, you may get into trouble. Also be sure to stay hidden when you, Train," Shu said while opening the door for Shen.
"Ok mom" Shen whispered.
"WHAT WAS THAT?"Shu glanced at Shen.
"NOTHING GOT TO GO BYEEE" Shen made a swift exit and Shu smirked as he heard the rushed footsteps.
****
On the west side of the temple, Shen was packing his things
He began to gather all the equipment that he might need and want for the journey clothes, water, food, etc and began to ponder his course of action.
"I don't know where to go in terms of training, and since I have a map I'll try to figure it out."
Shen began to prep to leave when he heard a knock at the door. when he went to open it. And he saw the grandmaster's messenger. A short man with green hair and brown eyes named Jin.
" The guild master has asked that you be careful. the beasts have been acting strange lately," He said.
"What do you mean strange?" Shen raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know he just said they just avoid a certain part of the forest and suggest you steer clear from it, Also to go somewhere secluded to train where no one will bother you," Jin said shrugging.
"Ok I'll do that then," Shen said.
Jin left, and with that shen began his journey. as he passed the gate to the temple, And waved to the guild master the words "Be safe Shen" rang out in Shu's head. Shen began leaving down the mountain. He saw the sun as it went down, And as he descended it turned darker, and the bitter cold started nipping at his heels.
He began to think.
"If he was so worried why did he send me this very night with no godd*amn warning, And why did he look so sad?" Shen couldn't as to why this happened, but decided to let it go for now.
He descended into the dense forest below. It was filled with massive pine trees. It was already dark since the sun was setting, However, The trees were so massive that they blocked out whatever light remained. the smallest among them was at least 2 feet wide.
Shen couldn't see five feet ahead of himself in this darkness, so he set up camp along a stream he found. He fished and started a fire with some dry twigs he found.
He made himself some food and thought about what had happened "Why did she send me out here? Why does he think it will make me stronger? Just thinking about it is making me frustrated"
He then decided to go to sleep, he set up his tent next to the biggest tree he could find, which was thick enough to be 4 feet to make sure it's sturdy, And went to sleep.
"I'll become stronger for those knives shu and you can't stop me" he smirked and fell asleep dreaming of holding those knives, And how he would become so much stronger.
********
Lin walked up to shu in his house
"Shen has left, But I must ask why did you send him out?" Lin asked curiously.
Shu sat in the middle of the room, meditating silently.
Lin looked at him and shrugged his shoulders.
"You always were so secretive," Lin said as he closed the screen door.
Shu silently opened his eyes and looked at a scroll at the edge of the room and picked it up.
*****************
two hours pass.
Shen was awoken by a loud crash in his camp. He began to wonder "Am I getting my stuff stolen by raccoons?" So he stepped outside with a pan in his hand to scare away any unwanted guests.
"Scram no good little s*its" He screamed only to find three 6ft tall wolves staring back at him with killing intent. shin damn near p*ssed himself at the sight. They all looked at him and lunged at him with its huge claws Shen felt his life flash before his eyes, but Shen was quick on his feet and dodged.
The huge tree behind him snapped like a twig.
He began to run deep into the forest not looking back, It was as if he could feel the claws about to touch the back of his neck.
He made a quick turn after turn, trying to lose them.
One of the wolves had tried to flank him by the left, Shen jumped over it, and hit a tree, snapping it in two with its weight. Shin continued to run like a bat out of hell.
"S*it. S*it. S*it. Son of a w*ore." Shen couldn't believe this situation.
Shen was trying to think about what to do about the situation. when suddenly they stopped chasing. shin looked behind his shoulder.
He was still running, not daring to stop even for a second 'why did they stop?' He thought.
Until he felt his foot hit the air and was propelled downward into a huge hole the size of a football field.
Shen fell far, And hard into the hole, and was knocked out by a rock to the head leaving him unconscious.
***
At the bottom of the hole.
Shen could barely stand, Feeling his head pounding with pain, He was rubbing his head' And he heard a voice calling out to him, Beckoning him closer Though the pitch-black darkness.
"Come closer child, Come closer." It seemed to fade.
He began to follow the voice but could not stand. He was bleeding from his head' And He had broken his leg in the fall, He even saw the bone sticking out! He looked around he could barely see anything, but where he sat because it was lit up by moonlight.
He found a stick and crawled his way near it. He grabbed it and ripped a piece of his pants off. He then moved around to a pile of rocks near his body.
He grabbed the biggest one he could find, which was the size of his fist.
He moved his body against a wall and began to beat the bone back into his leg.
*thwack* "aghhhhhh." The piercing scream rang out of the hole
*Thwack* "aghhhhhhhh." It rang out louder
The bone was barely out now. Shen only needed one more hit, but the pain was so overwhelming, he began to fatigue and lose his consciousness.