The sound of thundering strikes, the smell of burning coal from furnaces, and the shouts of pain lingered throughout the temple as Ezekiel and Bagani finish their first year of practice. Ezekiel was now pretty decent at using the sorcerers stone, his strikes were still pretty weak but the cost electrocution was eliminated. Bagani, on the other hand, quickly learned techniques in smithing. He has had training with his weapon yet but his strength still quickly adapts due to the mountain training he had to accomplish every day. The two sat on the dining table, waiting for their dinner after a day of hard work.
"Hey, Bagani. How's training? It seems like the daily mountain trial doesn't affect you anymore." Ezekiel stated.
"Yeah," Bagani chuckled. "Learning with James is a lot more tiring than any physical work I've done so far.
The sizzling smell of a pan-seared steak basted in the mix of butter, garlic, and thymes distracted the two from their conversation. In hunger, they both ate in total silence.
"Hey," Bagani broke the silence. "After we get out of this place, what's your plan?" He asked whilst chewing his food.
"I think I'll go home first," Ezekiel replied. "I miss Inay and Itay. After that, I'll venture once again to find the Buhayostine. "
"That's too bad I guess." Bagani sighed.
"Why so?" Ezekiel queried.
"I thought we could look for the Buhayostine together." Bagani averred. "Now that I think about it, going on separate ways doesn't sound that bad. We can find it quickly since we're exploring more than one place at a time."
Ezekiel chuckled. "You'll be receiving a headstart then. It'll feel better if you find it first cause you'll avenge your family."
Right after Ezekiel's statement, Bagani laid down his utensils unto his plate.
"I'm sorry that was insensitive." Ezekiel apologized as he saw Bagani's infuriated mood.
"No, it's exactly what I needed. You reminded me of my goal once again." He stared forward, his soul was lit on fire once again with anger. He was determined to speed up his progress and decimate all living Aswang.
The two then, as usual, slept to prepare for tomorrow's training. As the sun raised, Ezekiel and Bagani raised from their slumbers and went to the dining hall. Once they finished their breakfast they went out to train at their respective places. Bulawan then jumped out of a tree which startled the two. He smoked as regularly.
"I thought we'll train by ourselves. What you miss training us?" Ezekiel teased.
"I'm here to teach you both an easy technique you might need." Bulawan declared.
"Is it something you forgot that was supposed to be in our original training with you?" Bagani questioned. He undressed his weighted vest and threw it on the ground.
"No, I only thought of this recently. Treat it like extra work." He answered. "Even if you master your current weapon, there are still certain savages outside this gate that you can't kill. You two are still far too weak."
Ezekiel gritted his teeth and disrespectfully spoke back to Bulawan. "Says the guy who is always trapped inside four walls. I bet you haven't even killed a single Aswang yet."
"Ezekiel, that's going too far!" Bagani scolded his friend.
Bulawan walked to the lobby without a single word. He prepared his battle pose and threw his lit tobacco on the ground and stepped at it to extinguish the embers. "Since you are extremely irritated with me, let's spar kid." He proposed.
With a tight grin, Ezekiel jumped to the lobby as well. He used his signature pose with the sorcerers stone and aimed at Bulawan. "Wait, Ezekiel, don't do it!" Bagani shouted.
The Asulhero ran towards Ezekiel in an attempt to stop him but to his dismay, the two already started to fight and Bagani was too late. A small bolt of lightning came rushing out of Ezekiel's palm, with the striking sound of thunder the bolt flew towards Bulawan. The giant then stomped on the ground, levitating the floor and blocking the thunder strike.
"Crap... The cooldown of the stone." Ezekiel muttered.
Bulawan then once again controlled his power and manipulated the place. He made the temple's gigantic pillar move, it twisted itself into a snake-like structure and lunged unto Ezekiel. His body flew to a wall due to the pillar's impact. Drizzles of spit came out of Ezekiel's mouth as he screamed in pain. With a look of a person lacking mercy, Bulawan then once again stomped. The wall Ezekiel flew into began to mold into a hole. It grabbed Ezekiel's arms and legs and formed into a solid wall once again to trap him. With a grunting noise, Ezekiel once again used the sorcerers stone.
"This might hurt a bit but at least I'll get out of this stuff," Ezekiel mumbled to himself. "Let's go!"
He struck the bolt of lightning once again, it freed his right arm from the wall's grasp but the rest of his body he can use to move was still engaged. Ezekiel tried to smash the other side of the stone wall to free his left side but to no avail. Bulawan then walked slowly towards him, ready to end the challenge. A swinging sound was suddenly heard in the air, a sword flew to the stone wall and broke it. Ezekiel's left arm was now free. Bagani came rushing towards his friend and use another sword to smash the molded stone gripping on Ezekiel's legs.
"I thought you didn't want to be part of this," Ezekiel said. "Looks like you can't fight the urge to join as well."
"Shut it. If I didn't come, that guy would smash your face and knock you out." Bagani stated. "Plus fighting him is good training as well."
Bagani picked up his two swords and prepared to fight Bulawan with Ezekiel. Drips of sweat fell from the duo's bodies as they stared at Bulawan. With the tension rushing though his nerves, Ezekiel rushed at Bulawan. Bulawan tried to predict a lightning bolt so he raised a part of the floor to block it. Ezekiel clamped his hands together as a stepping stone for Bagani. His friend came rushing with his two blades, Bagani jumped on the clamped hands of Ezekiel and climbed the lifted floor. Bulawan looked up, his eyes sparkled as he saw the Asulhero hoped with his swords ready to strike. The colossus bent the pillar once again to hit Bagani, but Panganiban dodged the projectile mid-air, he used one of his swords on the pillar to push himself away from it. Unfortunately, the blade broke once it pushed Bagani out of the pillar's way. With one blade he spun around the air and managed to hit Bulawan. Through all that effort he only managed to put a very small wound on Bulawan's cheek.
Bulawan didn't mind his dent on Bulawan, he looked towards Ezekiel's direction and shouted. "Now!"
Ezekiel slid through the floor, he went behind the raised floor to escape Bulawan's sight. With lightning rushing from his hand he ran towards Bulawan and shot a point-blank strike. On impact, the lightning bolt electrocuted the behemoth, smoke rise from all sides of Bulawan.
"I did it..." Ezekiel huffed.
"Not bad."
Ezekiel gasped and prepared for another attack but by the time he noticed a small part of the floor levitated once again and slammed his face.
"So what were you trying to teach us?" Ezekiel asked sorely, injured with bandages on his head hours after the fight.
"Its called 'Udom'. Aswang's use it to silence their prey." Bulawan explained. "This is hidden magic to the Aswang race. Hidden magic doesn't have a cost but it is very hard to find out since it is only popularized on a specific race. All you need to do it wave the hand sign and say "Udom"."
Bulawan then clenched his hand to a certain sign and cast a spell on the two.
"Udom! Now try speaking." Bulawan suggested.
Ezekiel and Bagani were both unable to open their mouths and muffled.
"It only lasts for a few seconds though," Bulawan added. "Use it wisely."
"You put us through that fight when he was just going to teach us a single basic spell!" Bulawan shouted at Ezekiel. "You-!"
" Udom."
The day ended with Bagani constantly being silence by the uplifted Ezekiel.