2 Days!
48 hours!
2,880 minutes!
That was all the time we had?!
I get it, you're thinking "Keera! You are nearly out!" but there is however one major problem
"So, where is the meeting place you are supposed to go at the end of the trial?" I asked fully knowing the kind of answer I was going to get considering my luck
"…on the other side of the forest" she looked at her feet as if they were suddenly extremely interesting
Sigh what do you expect?
"So, you're saying that not only do we to prepare and make the contract in just 2 days, but we also get to the other side of the BLOOD FOREST!?" as I talked my voice got admittedly a little loud due to the feeling of both disbelief and agitation growing in my chest
Now please understand, not only is the binding of two souls known to be notoriously known as something you should never rush, but the forest is also massive, then a thought hit me
"Wait" I spoke as the gears in my head began to spin, albeit a little rusty "if you are supposed to not only survive DEMON Beasts and cross the forest as a mere rank 2 cultivator how is it possible any member has passed the Test?"
She had clearly been waiting for me to ask this as she returned her gaze from her feet to mine with a little smirk, once more giving me a glimpse into those now cunning eyes "because there are two ways to pass the trial" she began to smile wider and wider as her gaze became more than a little warped "if you kill five fellow disciples you can crush this and get picked up directly!" reaching towards her neck she pulled out a small crystal necklace that seemed to glow a little
"what's to stop a disciple from just claiming they killed them and getting out?" I asked the first question that popped into my head
"you need to crush six of them including your own over the course of the trial" she let out a small chuckle before continuing "And seeing as the crystal is directly connected to the disciples core, it will break if its owner dies"
It wasn't hard to understand what she was getting at "so technically we already killed three" I remembered the three annoying goons that exploded "we just need two more!"
Showing a toothy smile that was clearly filled with large amounts of killing intent she whispered
"let the hunt begin"
****
Hunting is unfair
I had to spend multiple days without sleep, food, water, or bathing in order to find just Daiyus trail let alone her....but She found them almost instantley!
We looked around for only an hour or so before
"Oh, look a footprint!"
Why the hell do the gods smile on demonic cultivators before an adorable Black Mantis! Its not FAAAAIRR!
*Ahem* anyway, we were tracking a couple sets of tracks through the jungle, it appeared to be a group of six or so
They left a literal trail of bodies in their wake, both beast and other humans. Sometimes we saw a beast with its head gone and core ripped out or another member of the same sect as Daiyu that had clearly been killed, tortured and worse
We followed them for about half a day before we were able to see smoke in the distance, climbing up a tree and standing on one of the branches we where able to make out the camp and its occupants
It was six people but not in the way we thought, what we had assumed was a group of six was instead a group of 3 with three prisoners, they all wore the black and purple garbs of the ghoul ape sect and they appeared to be arguing
Edging closer and closer with Daiyu on my back we moved through the tree line until we were able to make out their conversation
"Dammit Yang we agreed that the next two went to me!"
"you've already killed 3! We need some cores and crystals too!"
"Shut up you two or I'll take both of them!"
Soo…. They were arguing like children over who got to murder huh?
I could use this!
Looking towards Daiyu she clearly had the same idea and nodded at me hopping off my back
TIME FOR A KILLSTEAL!!
Making my way slowly towards the branch above the two captives, drew my blades and prepared to pounce, I waited until the second that all three of them had turned away from the gagged and bound captives
And then dropped down swing in my blades towards their heads!
However just before I could cut them in half five black ribbons shot out from the ground around them and wrapped themselves around my arms and waste and slamming me to the ground
An Array!
Unable to move I struggled against the binds but they only got tighter and tighter
"kekeke what a catch!" hey that laugh is my thing! Looking up the three who were now no longer arguing and where instead looking down at me with smug looks as they took in their prize
I had been caught!