Kenneth paid close attention to the beast's hind legs. He recalled what was taught to him by his maternal grandpa, Count Fleming. "It's important to know how to fight non-humans as well. In reality, you don't always battle with humans." That was Count Fleming's advice for Kenneth when he was tutoring him on his psionic powers. A minute twitch of the feline's hind legs gave its next move away. Kenneth ducked low as the black panther leapt. He slid underneath it while it was still in midair. Then, he slashed at the belly of the beast as their path crossed. A loud and deep bellow was heard after Kenneth delivered his blow. It was intended as a fatal strike. Kenneth quickly got on his feet soon after the initiate strike. He turned around to inspect the damage he had done. During that split second as he recalled, he remembered seeing the claw of the beast coming at his blade. Glancing at his furry opponent, it had one of its front paw bent. Instead of blood, dark miasma flown from the gash Kenneth inflicted. Kenneth lunged forward with the Demon Edge again as he regained his footing. Aiming for the neck, Kenneth unleashed a series of rapid slashes, a technique called - Fury Stripe. With his enhanced strength and speed in his overdrive mode, he was able to hit harder and faster. Each of his movement was enhanced by his psionic power.
Kenneth panted under the weight of his sword after the intense exchange of blows. The sword was getting harder to swing by the minute. The black panther had open wounds all over it but none were fatal. Kenneth suffered some minor injuries as well. He sucked in a deep breath and lifted the Demon Edge once more. Placing the sword on his shoulders in an offensive stance. As he prepared to strike, shadows crossed the corner of his vision. The feline seemed to have sensed their presence too. There were three of them and they knew exactly what they were after. Within seconds of spotting them, the Corona Fountain began drying up and revealing a passage in its basin. They triggered the feline to spring into action, ignoring Kenneth and his friends while chasing after the trio down the passage. Kenneth released a sigh of relieve and turned around to see how his friends were doing. Fray seemed to be on his feet after the healing spell Cathy casted on him. There were still blood oozing from his chest but he was not in grave danger. Cathy on the other hand was lying unconscious on the grass. "Fray, I need you to take Cathy to safety and call the Spokes!" Kenneth said and ran towards the secret passage. Fray seemed to hesitate at first, he wanted to help Kenneth instead of running away. However, he later decided against it as he would just be in Kenneth's way.
The passage opened in the basin of the fountain led to a flight of stairs made of sandstone. The end of the stairs was shrouded in darkness, too deep for the moonlight to penetrate. Putting on a pairs of multipurpose visor, Kenneth switched on the head light located on its sides. It seemed like a straight path all the way down. There was a thick layer of dust on the sandstone stairs with fresh paw prints and shoe prints. The walls supporting the passage had torch stands craved into them. They too were covered in dust and cobwebs. The passage had not seen visitors for quite some time. Trailing the prints left behind by the feline, Kenneth arrived at the end of the stairs. What lay before him was nothing he expected. The underground storage was filled with treasures! Piles and chests filled with gold and silver coins stacked on top one another at one corner; valuable gemstones, jade and crystals lay in another corner. The sounds of metal clashing was heard not far from the entrance. Two men were holding off the black panther while the remaining one seemed to be searching the stacks of treasures. Kenneth was unable to identify any of them with their mask covering part of their faces. From his distance, the two seemed like skilled veterans, being able to go head-to-head with the black panther.
Channeling his energy to his lower limbs, Kenneth dashed forward with large strides. He bypassed the battle and headed towards the man searching the pile of treasure. Despite every treasure inside the storage room, the man was clearly after something more than monetary value. "Hey! Who are you guys and what are you doing down here?" Kenneth demanded. The man ignored Kenneth completely and resumed his frantic search. Kenneth became annoyed and raised his sword. "I said, who are you people?" Kenneth yelled while pointing his sword at the stranger. The man was unfazed by Kenneth's threat. He didn't even bother to look at Kenneth. Feeling irritated, Kenneth thrust the tip of the Demon Edge forward all of a sudden. He was aiming for the heart, with killing intent. Within the next instance, his opponent disappeared into thin air and reappeared some distance away. The man continued his search, not paying any attention to Kenneth. "Too can play this game!" Kenneth said in frustration. Massive amount of energy was then channeled into the ground from Kenneth's body. Though he seldom utilize or train with his Earth element, he did know most of the basic stuff. There is a move among others he was particularly strong at and that's - Earthquake. Soon, the whole underground storage began to shook as Kenneth manipulated the deep rocky foundation. Cracks began appearing on the ground, splitting the granite that made up the floor. Sand then began emerging from the fissures, flooding the treasure room.
As soon as the sand flooded the entire floor of the storage, they began to move in the opposite direction. The shifting sand dragged with it all the valuables in the storage into the fissure. And then, they were crushed and ground by the earth. "What the hell are you doing!" The man finally spoke. "You like that bitch?! Too can play that game!" Kenneth showed the man the 'universal insult' - the middle finger. Meanwhile, Kenneth also switched on the recording on his visor - for evidence later. From the corner of his vision, the black panther and the other two men stopped fighting. All of them had their eyes on Kenneth. "This will be fun!" Kenneth smirked. Multiple projectiles were fired at him. Thunder bolts, fire balls, meteorites, icicles, shadow balls, poison darts and many other energy projectiles lit up the underground treasure trove. "Psyche!" Kenneth laughed and showed them the dual obscene hand gesture. Kenneth had anticipated their action so far and was prepared for it. The ground around his feet softened the moment their attack was within harm's range. Like a quicksand, the ground sucked Kenneth underneath and into it. The ground shielded Kenneth from all the projectiles. After the fireworks ended, the entire underground chamber was filled with dust and smoke. Vision was close to nil. However, the black panther somehow managed to find its ways without the aid of sight or smell. Two of the trio were taken down by the black panther in the chaos. As dust began settling, Kenneth sprung from the earth and lunged the Demon Edge at the black panther. The earth concealed most of Kenneth's presence and also dampened his energy emission; essentially cloaking him from the panther's keen sense. Unlike his last attempt, Kenneth used his secret technique the moment his blade reached striking distance.
The black panther only managed a weak roar as the Demon Edge drove through its guts. Its eyes were wide open, totally caught by surprise. Kenneth's Freeze ability immobilized the feline just as it was about to deflect the tip of the sword with its paw - pausing it in suspended animation while the sword hit home. The feline lay on its side, panting. Black miasma oozed from its wound. Kenneth withdrew his sword from the panther's body with a sharp pull. It was followed by a high pitch screech and a gush of miasma from the penetration wound. He then raised the Demon Edge, preparing for the decisive blow. However, he later decided against it. Kenneth just couldn't bring himself to kill the creature after seeing it lying defenseless and on the verge of death. He knew how dangerous the creature was but he just couldn't do it. Kenneth sighed and returned his weapon into his storage portal, all the while keeping a close eye on the beast. He knew deep down that it was a bad idea.
"Yes!" A cheer of triumph was heard from Kenneth left side. It seemed the mysterious man had finally found the item he was searching for. "Oh-no you don't!" Kenneth activated his lightsaber on his utility belt and aimed it at the man. He too was outsmarted by Kenneth when he tried to escape. The energy saber pierced through the man's flank when he tried to teleport but failed. Kenneth had buried an Arc Net before he emerged from his hiding, anticipating the man to use the same escape mechanism he did earlier. The Arc Net activated just in time via a remote in Kenneth's utility belt. The man dropped to his knees. His robe was dyed a crimson red by a severed artery. He placed a palm over the wound and began chanting a healing spell. However, the spell was not working as effective as it should have due to the effect of the Arc Net. On the man's free hand was a pouch. "Hand it over! And put your hands on the ground!" Kenneth pointed a laser pistol aiming at the man's chest. "Failure to comply meant certain death!" Kenneth threatened. The man only nodded dully in reply. With deliberate slowness, the man released his grip on the pouch and let it fall to the ground. And in the split second of a moment, his hand reached into his robe, withdrawing an object from it.
Kenneth squeezed the trigger and unleashed a few shots of concentrated laser beam at the man. His attacks were absorbed by an invisible shield. Focusing his gaze at the object held by the man, Kenneth immediately identified it as a hand shield - something fairly commonly used by the police task force outside of Idan. "He's no ordinary Idanian," Kenneth thought to himself. Normally Idanian-s wouldn't be exposed to the technology outside of Idan; they were a rather secluded bunch, living in a world of their own. The man tried to circle around Kenneth to head for the only exit out of the chamber. It was an obvious attempt but Kenneth knew that his opponent had more tricks under his sleeves. Kenneth intercepted his opponent by blocking the exit. The man continued to charge with his hand shield, hoping to ram his way through. Using the remaining ounce of energy left in him, Kenneth summoned a mount of earth that burst forth from the ground and engulfed his opponent. Despite the Arc Net, the man's magical power was strong enough to resist Kenneth's elemental bind. Only his ankles were trapped by the earth. Without warning, Kenneth fired a continuous volley of laser beam at the man's shoulder until a few eventually hit him. He yelped in pain and dropped the pouch he was holding. An urn and a dull bracelet was seen as the string detached. Despite all the riches the chamber held, the man went after these two items. They must have held some significant value that Kenneth knows not of.
"Why are you so obsessed with these?" Kenneth moved closer to inspect the fallen objects. He did it with speed and care to prevent a surprise attack. Both the urn and the bracelet seemed aged; from their appearance, they didn't seemed any difference from the usual antiques which could be found all over Idan. But Kenneth knew looks can be deceiving. The man was willing to risk his life for those items. Suddenly, there was loud noise coming from the entrance to the chamber followed by footsteps down the sandstone stairs. "Drop your weapons and stay where you are!" Someone barked. It was the same officer who arrested Kenneth when he got into a fight with Juan Diago about a month back. "It's you again! Why can't you just stay out of trouble!" He yelled. His spits were all over Kenneth's face. Kenneth was too tired to protest. He dropped his laser pistol and lay face down on the ground while putting both his hands in the air to surrender. At the same time, he deactivated the Arc Net so the Spokes could use their spells without hindrance. But it was a grave mistake!
The moment the Arc Net was down, the man sprang into action. He broke free from his earth bind and launched himself towards the nearest Spokes officer. "Drop your weapon…" One of them ordered. "Stand down…" Before the other officer could utter another sound, he was heard gargling and gasping at the same time. The same thing happened to another two officers when their throat was slit. Kenneth managed to protect the remaining officer from a fatal wound with his laser pistol. His laser beams threw off the man's aim. The dagger ended up puncturing the officer's lung instead of his heart. Kenneth withdrew his dual lightsabers, preparing for a fight. However, the man had other plans in mind. A silent mumble from the man set the entire underground chamber on fire! The fire raged on despite there were no flammable object around. The man then fled with the bracelet and the urn before Kenneth could chase after him. There was no point in chasing as the man was able to teleport. He would have been miles away before Kenneth even manage to leave the chamber. It was too late for Kenneth to catch him.
"Are you alright?" Kenneth helped the injured officer to his feet. "We must leave now! The spell he casted, it's a forbidden spell - The Immortal Flame. This place will be done in minutes!" The officer warned as he pointed at the flame. "There are still two people inside there! We have to save them!" Kenneth said. "Make it quick! I'll call for backup." The officer said through panted breath. A firefly took off from the officer's palm after a quick casting. He then dragged one of the body of his fallen comrade up the stairs. Kenneth turned around and searched for the other two men that fought with the black panther. One of them was already a corpse when Kenneth found him while the other was still breathing but unconscious. As Kenneth dragged the man to safety, his mask fell off. It was Marcel underneath the mask! The temperature inside the underground chamber sky rocketed within moments after the fire started. Fortunately, help arrived in the nick of time. The bodies of the remaining two officers were carried by their comrades to the surface. Kenneth handed Marcel over to the last officer waiting for him. "You coming?" He asked while casting cryogenic spells to dull the heat. However, the heat inside the chamber continued rising to an almost unbearable level. Strangely though, there was no soot or smoke despite all the burning going on. "There is one more person inside!" Kenneth lied. "Hurry up! This place is going to collapse!" The officer left without another word. The flame engulfed everything in its path - jewellery, coins, ornaments, even the stone pillars holding the chamber were not spared. But Kenneth was determined to find out what happened to the black panther. He dashed back into the inferno again, searching for answers.