Beast blood sprayed everywhere in the den. Luckily for Gunn and the cub, the shells of the Spirit Beast saved them. Mud Tortoises make up for their lack of offense in their armored body. Their hard shells allow them to defend against attacks way above their level, and today it saved a human boy and fox cub.
The sword cultivator floated in the air as he watched his attack obliterate all life around him. Using his spirit energy, the cultivator was able to tell his last strike killed 99 percent of all life forms in the immediate area.
The man grew up being restrained by all his masters. Only at times like this, when the smell of blood permeated the air, was the man able to be his true self. A sinister smile crept across his face. His good mood was ruined when he noticed two weak signatures in the cliff.
"How did you two rats survive, I wonder? No matter." Gathering sword qi in his blade, he slashed towards the tortoise den. "1st strike of the wind, Death Air!"
Of the 9 Strikes of the wind, Death Air was a precision strike that would use sword energy to turn the air black. The blackish wind tore through the air and struck the cliff.
The den began to shake and rumble. "We have to get out of here." Grabbing the fox, Gunn crawled out of the cave of dead Mud Tortoises. The entire den crumbled and collapsed in on itself.
As the dust dispersed, Gunn looked and saw a demon in man's clothing staring at him. "Hello, little thief."
The cub hid behind Gunn, knowing that man was its sibling's killer. Gunn patted the fox's head, and he reached for his final bomb, the number 9. He didn't find anything on his belt. That means he lost it in the den when it collapsed.
Now that the sword cultivator realized the thief was a mortal human, he no longer became worried. A human boy who couldn't cultivate was no threat to him.
"Boy, give me that fox, and I may spare your life." Then the man gave a small chuckle knowing full well no matter what, he would kill this mortal. He mostly wanted to see what this boy would do.
Knowing he was out of weapons, he looked at the pup. Like all the heroes in stories, his grandpa told him he knew it was his turn to protect the fox. He pushed the fox away and said, "Run, little guy."
Gunn took off running towards the cultivator. He grabbed a rock and threw it at the cultivator. The sword cultivator blew away the rock with that simple slash, and a then sliver of sword energy ripped across Gunn.
"Ahhhh..." screamed Gunn. The attack left a massive gash on Gunn and blasted away his arm clean off.
"Hahaha, are you an idiot? What did you think you could do?" The man floated down in front of the boy. "You are a worthless mortal. Now time to claim my prize." The cultivator just walked past Gunn.
"Stop," Gunn yelled, grabbing the man's robes.
"How dare you touch me!" This ant just grabbed him—a god amongst men and blood now all over his robe. With a slash of his sword, the cultivator severed the robe piece Gunn grabbed.
Lifting his sword, the cultivator said, "You should be honored to die by my physical blade."
As the cultivator swung down, only mere seconds passed, but Gunn's entire life flashed before his eyes. All the stories his grandpa told him, all the things he learned in this forest, all life and death hunts, and his grandpa's face just smiling at him proudly.
*Crunch*
The thunderous noise snapped Gunn out of it as he watched the sword dropped to the ground. A massive nine-tailed fox stood there biting off the cultivator's head. Letting his guard down because of the boy, the spirit beast killed him quickly.
The headless body fell to the ground. As Gunn watched the pup run over to its mother, he closed his eyes, knowing this was the end. As the boy's blood poured out, the tiny fox nudged its mother.
"Are you sure you want me to save him?" asked the mother.
The pup responded, "yes, mother, I wouldn't be alive without him."
The giant spirit beast leaned its massive head down and touched the boy's chest with its nose. A bright light enveloped the boy, and slowly the chest wound mended itself, and his arm reattached itself too.
"As thanks, I will bless you as well. This should allow you to become a cultivator."
A tiny bit of energy began to form in his chest. The thing that separated all mortals and cultivators was a spirit organ. Now one was developing in Gunn.
"Remember this, my little pup. The world is cruel, and like how this man killed my child, this boy saved you. He is now repaid, and we must be off."
The little cub ran over to Gunn and smelled him, "I will remember your scent. Hopefully, we meet again someday." His mother waited for him to run over to her, and mere seconds later, they were gone.
As the sun sank behind the mountains, the forest became quiet—no wind or animal for miles. Slowly a boy's eyes stirred, and he woke up. He looked next to him and saw the cultivator's corpse. He reached over and lifted the blade upward.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry I couldn't avenge you. But...I promise to become one of those heroic cultivators, a Sword Cultivator."