"You've finally woken up—again"
Said Ori as he watched Ean stand up from the ground, holding his head with a look of pain on his face
"My muscles are aching, it's like—my blood is circulating faster than it's supposed to"
Ean replied as he tilted his head to the right, clenching his teeth as the veins in his neck seemed to be multiplying, spreading throughout his skin like roots
"Calm down, don't move too much, your muscles won't be able to withstand it, the Sanctuary energy that's flowing through you isn't flowing correctly anymore, it'll take at least 15 minutes for your body to become fully functional again"
"15 minutes?"
"Yes"
"That's not too long—when does this Mini-Game end?"
Ean questioned as he tried to calm himself while turning to look at Ori who simply stared at him
"It ends in 30 minutes"
"Nice I have plenty of time to—Wait! did you say 30 minutes!?"
Ean yelled while the veins in his arms began to grow just like the ones in his neck
"Uh—yeah, so you should just calm down till—well, till the mini-game ends"
Ori suggested as he sat down on the ground, laying his back against one of the walls in the cave
"No, I came here to enter the Tournament, not to wait and heal my wounds"
Ean replied as he began to look around the cave as if he was searching for something
"Hey, have you seen my sword anywhere?"
"Your sword?"
"Yeah, my sword. You know—the one I used to slay the chimera"
" Oh yeah that thing, it's over there"
Ori replied, ending the small exchange of words before pointing at the sword that Ean was looking for
"Oh you brought it with you, I thought you'd leave it along with the chimera's corpse"
"Now why would I do that? I had no reason for doing so, besides, you saved my life"
"Yeah, I guess you have a point— but, why is my sword sinking in the ground like that?"
Ean questioned as he pointed at his sword, which he had its blade stabbed in the ground, and its handle sticking out, glowing with a hot blue energy
"I had no choice but to stab it in the ground, when I held it, it began to drain my Sanctuary Energy for some reason"
Ori replied as he stared at the sword with a calm expression, waiting for Ean to grab it
"Drain it? Are you sure?"
"Yeah, It was like...it was charging itself with it"
"That's weird"
"Yeah, how so?"
"For me—it charges me up with Sanctuary Energy, the energy it gives me is so pure that it even makes me stronger"
"Oh really?"
"Yeah"
Ean replied as he grabbed the handle of the sword with his right hand, pulling it out with unbelievable ease before swinging it around as if playing with it
"It looks like it's in good condition-"
Ean said but before he could rejoice, energy began to sip from the sword, enveloping his right arm with intensity as the ground below him cracked
"Hey what's wrong? Why are you unleashing so much Energy?"
Ori questioned as he stood up from the ground, attempting to get close to Ean, but before he could even touch Ean, the energy around the sword and Ean's arm became stronger, pushing Ori away
"I-I don't know, the sword—it's like..it's like it's attempting to heal me or something"
Ean replied, with difficulty, as he held his right arm tightly, in an attempt to contain the energy which flew from the sword
"Well, you have to contain it! You can't unleash that crazy amount of energy in here!"
"Huh!? Why not!?"
"Because we're under the Mantipions's lair!"
"What!? Why the hell will you take us to a place like—Ugh!"
Ean replied, with a tone of anger before being interrupted by the energy that flew from the sword, making his muscles ache even more than they were already, cracking the ground even further
"I had no other choice, if we stayed outside we might have been hunted down by the other participants, I mean just think about it, with the crazy amount of points that you have, they wouldn't think twice to attack us—anyway forget it, just try to calm down!"
Ori explained as he tried to get closer, making his limbs grow as he did so
"How is it that you're releasing so much energy without dying?"
"I don't know man—it's the sword, not me"
"Well it's your sword, isn't it? Try to calm it down for all our sakes!"
Ori yelled as he pierced the ground with his now unusually big limbs in an attempt to keep himself from being flown away, but just as quickly as the struggle began, it also disappeared, leaving both Ori and Ean speechless
"Uh. I guess it's over?"
Ean said, with a slight hint of doubt in his voice, before standing up straight as he scratched the back of his head
"Anyway, where's my sheath?"
"Over there"
Ori replied as he pointed at it, making Ean smile as he ran over to it, tying it around his waist before sheathing his blade
"Well— it looks like none of the Mantipions realized we were here"
"Looks like it"
Ean replied as he then began to walk toward the exit of the cave
"Hey, where are you going?"
"Where else? To hunt"
"Hunt? But weren't you throbbing in pain like a second ago?"
"Yeah but, not anymore for some reason—-well anyway, thanks for healing me, I have points to gain!"
Ean replied as he smirked, waving at Ori before running out of the cave, leaving Ori all alone by himself
"I guess that random surge of energy recovered his core's normal flow or something. Maybe—maybe that sword absorbs energy and replenishes the host's. Anyway, I should just rest and wait for the next mini-game"
Ori whispered to himself, before pulling his limbs out of the ground, taking in a deep breath as he would then lay down on the ground, preparing for a good half hour rest, but before he could begin to rest, he begin to hear screams
"AAAHH!!! Ori you fucking dumbass!!!"
"Huh? Dumbass?"
Ori questioned as he slowly sat up from the ground, staring at the cave's exit, but as soon as he did a gigantic claw pierced from the ceiling, stabbing the ground and making the cracks that Ean left behind even bigger
"What the fuck?.."
Ori whispered and from the exit that Ean left from, he came back in, being chased by Mantipions the same size as the chimera he fought before
"Ean why are Mantipions chasing after you!?"
"I don't know, I just left the cave, and all of a sudden they sneaked out of the trees and started to attack me!"
"Well, why didn't you kill them!? Didn't you say you were completely healed!? All Your strength should be back!"
"Well I tried to kill them but, it turns out my muscles can't withstand too much stress!!"
"What!?!"
"So I had no choice but to run!"
"But why are you running back here you god damm idiot!?"
"I was surrounded, I had no other choice! Besides this Is all your fault for taking us to their lair!"
"Huh!? You're blaming this on me!? When you were the one who decided to unleash all that energy!?"
"Shut up!!"
"No, you shut up!!"
"No, you!!"
"No, you!!"
Ori screamed, preparing himself to insult Ean with all he had, but before he could, the cave was broken down by yet even more claws, which began to move from left to right, pushing the rocks away, as the Mantipions stared down at Ori from where the ceiling once was
"Damm. I guess I have no other choice but to fight"
Ori whispered to himself, as Ean slid through the ground, proceeding to stand beside Ori with sweat running down his face
"We're so dead man"
Ean said with a nervous smile on his face, as they both stared up at the Mantipions, taking a fighting stance
"That shouldn't be a problem Ean! Not for you at least!"
"Huh, who said that?"
Ean questioned he would then turn to look at Ori with a confused look
"Hey was that you?"
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"The one who said that, was that you?"
"Said what?"
"So it wasn't you, then who was it?"
"Are you alright Ean, maybe you also got hit in the head and are starting to hear things"
"No it's not that, I'm sure I heard someone's voice"
"Are you sure? Are you positive?"
Ori questioned, but before he could receive an answer, the both of them began to hear a rather weird noise coming from the air as if the wind was whistling
"Of course he's positive!"
A voice yelled, as from the sky something unseeable fell at an insane speed, crashing against the ground, creating a shockwave and causing dirt to cover the entire cave
"Hey don't tell me.."
Ean whispered as he stared at what fell from the sky, seeing nothing but a crater, and from that crater, someone well known to Ean walked out
"SHU!!"
Ean yelled with excitement in his voice before jumping on top of Shu, hugging him tightly with a smile on his face
"Uh—what's wrong Ean? What's with all the hugging?"
Shu questioned as he looked down at Ean, placing his hand on Ean's back
"I thought you were dead, man!"
Ean responded as tears fell down his eyes
"You're weirding me out man, back up!"
Shu said as he would then push Ean off, making him trip over his leg and fall on the ground
"Hey Ean, mind telling me who this is?"
Ori questioned as he looked down at the boy, who simply laughed in excitement to finally see his friend once again
"This guy here is Shu, he's the strongest person I know!"
Ean replied making Ori raise an eyebrow before turning to look at Shu
"This guy?"
Ori questioned with doubt in his voice as he looked at Shu up and down
"Yep!"
Ean replied as Shu simply scratched the back of his head while looking around the cave
"Hey Ean, what's with those ugly ass things?"
Shu questioned as he pointed at the Mantipions with disgust on his face
"Well you see, those guys were about to kill us"
"Oh really?"
"Yeah"
"So, should I take them out?"
"Yeah but, they're pretty strong"
"Really?"
"Yeah"
"Hmm, then that makes it way better. Stand down, I'll end it, and once I'm down with this, let's fight again"
"Yeah..sure but, are you sure you can defeat all those monsters"
"Of course, their energy isn't even close to mine's and yours, so it'll be a cinch"
"Okay then, I'll leave it to you"
"Yep"
Shu replied, ending the casual conversation between the two of them, leaving Ori somewhat astonished, but before he could question them, Shu would slide his right foot through the ground swiftly, causing the dirt from the ground to spread around, as he separated his legs, lowering his upper body as he held his right arm back, forming his right hand into a fist.
And just like that, Shu would swing his arm
"Huh? Was that supposed to-"
Ori questioned, but before he could finish his sentence, a sudden shockwave was formed, which reacted as an explosion, blowing the monsters to nothing but dust, leaving nothing but a giant crater where the cave once was, of course, all that was left, was them three.
"Phew, I guess that's that"