Kailen felt no pain as the blade slid through his left shoulder courtesy of the sharp edge he supposed. The slim figure ahead of him was lean covered in dark robes which covered his whole body apart from his eyes, that were radiating killing intent.
Kailen punched the man in the stomach which caused him to recoil and yank the sword out of his shoulder. This time it did hurt, as he let out a groan and winced. His experience as a gladiator had taught him never to show weakness, even if that may be a pain. Any advantage, psychological or physical could be the deciding factor in a close contest.
Kailen assessed him to be a fairly powerful cultivator based on the speed of his strike and movement. Though he imagined his first contest against a powerful cultivator would be more glamorous than an attack from behind, he'd take what he could get as his excitement gradually overcame the throbbing in his shoulder.
Kailen glanced behind him to see Lana busy engaging two opponents, her saber was swift as she easily held her own. Ali was dodging the quick strikes by a female opponent with excellent footwork and speed, reassured they were in no danger he turned to face his opponent. Kailen's amateur mistake of losing focus allowed the man to close the distance and strike at his shoulder with a powerful overhand swing.
The swing cut through the air with a whistling sound, Kailen judged the strike to be too powerful to take head-on as he stepped back out of range. The sword cut the air before his face before striking the rocky ground, incredibly using the impact to change direction into an upward swing at his manhood.
"Fucking prick!"
Kailen exclaimed as he hurried to jump back before returning a wide swing to the man's forearm, which connected causing a shallow cut to form. Kailen took the initiative this time attacking with a succession of quick strikes, causing the man to block each blow. Kailen quickly stabbed towards the man's heart, however, his opponent read his move shifting his weight to the side before stabbing Kailen through his right thigh.
Kailen fell to one knee, before twisting his hips to swing his injured leg and trip his opponent. The man tumbled to the floor as Kailen jumped on top of him elbowing him in the face. As Kailen raised his sword to strike down, he was hit in the face with a powerful blow that muddled his head. It was undeniably the most powerful punch he'd ever taken, incredibly from this skinny man.
His nose broke, spraying blood down his chin he roared furiously before yanking the man's hood up before taking a bite out of his neck. His grey feline eyes turned faintly red, while his upper canine teeth extended slightly forming sharp points. These changes went unnoticed to everyone, including himself.
Blood quickly poured from the jugular in the man's neck pooling on the black rocks below forming a majestic pattern. Kailen raised his head to check on Ali and Lana, his eyes returning to the normal grey color.
Lana had slain one opponent and was currently cornering the other with quick footwork and blindingly fast strikes, he was astonished at her skill with the blade. He quickly checked on Ali who as being cornered by her opponent, a bow at close range obviously held the disadvantage as she was unable to fire any arrows.
Quickly rising to his feet, his right leg trembling he hobbled quickly to come behind the enemy. Ali having noticed his approach stopped her steps using the bow to skillfully deflect the incoming strike by a knife into the sky before planting a sidekick into her opponents' gut. Successfully achieving her aim of stalling her aggressor, she looked to Kailen as he thrust his sword through the back of their neck.
"All's fair in love and war."
Kailen thought as he turned to see Lana slicing off her opponents' hands before kicking him in the throat. The man created a graceful ark in the air as he landed firmly on his back screaming from the pain. She slowly approached him before placing her sword at his neck and speaking.
"Who is it that sent you?"
The man unhesitantly screamed in reply.
"Viscount Wilkins from Cante!"
The name brought the face of the pig to Kailen's mind as he remembered that he was the only son of Viscount Wilkins. Hearing the name failed to create a reaction on Lana's face as she finished off the man, ending his screams.
Kailen sat on the floor, no longer needed to stand on his injured leg.
"Guess we will have to wait for your recovery, hurry up and cultivate."
Lana said while sighing in exasperation, Kailen did as he was told drawing the natural qi to his wounds to aid in recovery. His first fight against fairly strong cultivators ended in victory, he was quite pleased with himself until Lana brought him back to earth.
"Don't get cocky, they may be strong compared to your regular opponents. The upper echelon in the cultivation world would crush them in seconds."
Kailen eyebrows knit into a frown, though excited about the possible battles in the future he wasn't best pleased being berated.
After a few hours, Kailen's wounds had mostly healed thanks to the wonderous nature of qi. The trio started their ascent to the top of Mt. Gilnar.