Jirael, Kurina, Sakke and Rina were blazing through the forest. Kurina was deep in thought.
"I was always characterised as weird by my family when I revealed that I could see the chi of people. I had suffered under many kidnappings to the point that I couldn't bear it anymore. I soon refused to leave the house or socialise with anyone. My family was soon destroyed by mages from the Western Continent. My parents had hidden me and as they were being tortured, I heard one of the men say I'd be useful in the war against the Northern Continent. Soon, the Steel City Guards arrived but they were too late. My family was massacred and the murderers were gone. I was taken to the Royal Steel Academy to seek refuge there thanks to Principal Rojin. The first few months were horrible. Everyone stayed away from me and rumors surfaced. I was ostracised by everyone until Jirael arrived. On the very first day, he fought back. He was soon alone after but he didn't care about what people thought about him. The principal had told me of Jirael's story, of how he is from the Ari royal family in the Southern Continent and how he was being hunted down by them. We were the same and yet different. I had accepted my fate but he had the resolve to fight back. I always saw him training hard everyday, never missing a single session. He had the resolve I never had. He even accepted someone like me. He didn't ostracize me even when he caught me spying on the flow of chi in his body. He told me he didn't mind at all. That's why I worked hard after that so that i can finally match up to him. I will soon be able to look at him in the eyes as an equal and this mission is my path to doing that."
Rina looked at her.
"I love your eyes. They're a beautiful cyan though I think Jirael will pluck your eyes out if you stare at him too long. He doesn't like people staring at him."
Kurina smiled.
"Don't worry. He said it's okay if it's me."
Rina was fuming when Jirael suddenly appeared besides Kurina.
"Let's pick up the pace you two."
Kurina's face brightened.
"Y-YES!"
With that he shot forward as Sakke followed him. Rina sighed.
"Let's also...HUH?!?!"
She was surprised to see that Kurina had already accelerated, leaving her behind.
"I THOUGHT GIRLS WERE SUPPOSED TO STICK TOGETHER!"
She accelerated also.
...
They arrived at the Movun Caves. Jirael was sitting on the tree by the entrance.
"What's the plan Rina?
"Call me sensei. The plan is to enter the cave while mapping out the route. I'll leave that to you Kurina."
"Yes!"
"As for you Jirael, since you have sharper senses than all of us, I want you to keep an eye out for any danger."
"Yes"
"And I want you Sakke to be cover our backs."
"You can count on me."
Rina walked inside the cave.
"Good. The formation will be 1-2-1. I'll be at the front, Kurina and Jirael in the middle and Sakke at the back. Let's go."
As they walked in, Jirael stopped by a pile of blood and examined it.
"I smell old man Rojin's scent. It's mixed with some other animal which I think is a spider."
Rina continued walking.
"Let's move. We should find the old man as soon as possible."
They carried on for a while when Jirael suddenly stopped.
"The scent of blood is heavy just a few hundred metres away from us. Most of it is the old man's. It looks like he was fighting some kind of beast. I presume it's atleast a peak 4th Gate. We should make sure to erase our presence from this point onwards."
Everyone complied as they began sealing their chi fluctuations. Jirael spoke.
"I can still smell you guys. Use your chi as film over your body to prevent your scent from escaping."
Everyone complied.
"This should do for now."
Rina opened her eyes.
"Let's go then."
They finally reached Rojin and they found him tied to a rock. Rina stepped forward.
"This looks like a spider's silk."
Jirael looked up.
"None of you make a sound. That spider is still sleeping up there."
It was about 2m tall. Sakke spoke.
"None of us are a match for that thing if it wakes up. Let's grab the principal before we lea-"
Loud voices were being heard. It was the voices of the students arguing. Their noise had awakened the spider. The four of them ran with Sakke carrying Rojin. The students ran into the clearing and were besieged by the spider. A massacre commenced as there was pandemonium. Rina suddenly turned back. Jirael shouted.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!"
"I HAVE TO SAVE THEM!!!"
Jirael reluctantly followed her.
"Damn her savior mentality!!!"
Sakke and Kurina also followed. Jirael then ran onto the walls and shouted.
"RINA! YOU TRY AND RESTORE COMMAND AND ORDER! SAKKE! DO YOUR BEST TO DISTRACT IT! KURINA! USE YOUR EYES TO ANALYSE A WEAKPOINT FOR ME! FIND THE SPOT WHERE THE CHI FLOWS THE LEAST INTENSELY!"
Jirael activated his Kaminome 2nd Stage and black chi seeped from his body. He ran along the wall and jumped. He fused chi into his daggers and stabbed the spider's neck. He couldn't break its shell and his daggers got stuck. Sakke was having his way with it using his giant axe to target it's eyes. He managed to evade the spider's legs but only barely as he got scratched by them. Rina, with the help of other instructors was organising the remaining eight students into teams. Range and melee attackers were selected and they began to attack the spider from all sides. Kurina was amongst the ranged fighters as she utilised her chain scythe to unleash long range attacks. The students attacked from behind while the instructors aimed for the front and sides. Sakke jumped on top of the spider.
"I can't let you have all the fun now can I?'
They began to furiously attack the spider. Soon chinks on its armour were forming. They soon got excited but Jirael felt something was wrong. Suddenly Kurina shouted.
"GET BACK!!! HUGE CHUNKS OF CHI ARE GATHERING ON IT'S SIDES!!!"
It was too late. The spider released a huge cloud of poison gas from the spaces between each leg. Everyone who failed to get away instantly fell to the ground. It was paralysis gas. The only ones who were fast enough to react were Jirael who jumped off because of his instincts and Kurina backed off because of her eyes. He landed besides her.
"I'm going to need your help Kurina. While I distract the beast, I'll need you to move the instructors and students away as fast as you can to safety."
"Okay"
"Then I'll leave it to you."
He launched himself forward once again as he covered himself in his black chi. He was able to predict the spider's movements and avoid but it was fast. Kurina was picking them up and throwing them onto the narrow passage way that they came from. She then immediately assisted Jirael by attacking from afar. They worked well together as Kurina could also predict where the spider would hit by analysing where there's a surge of mana. She finally saw where the mana was basically nonexistent.
"JIRAEL. ATTACK ITS REAR UNDERBELLY. ITS SHELL IS THE WEAKEST THERE!!!"
Jirael immediately went in again, dodging strike after strike. He rolled underneath it and reached the abdomen but the spider suddenly swung its abdomen and it Jirael. He coughed up blood as Kurina rushed to pull him out of the way of the next strike.
"This really hurts. It's like that time when I fought against Jikarin."
He saw Kurina doing her best to keep the spider away from him. She was keeping her distance from it, flipping over it or darting to the sides if she was almost cornered. Jirael knew he had no choice. He stood up and began to draw the highly pure chi that he was collecting in his core for all those years.
"KURINA!!! PLEASE BUY ME SOME TIME! I HAVE ONE LAST TRICK I WANT TO USE!!!"
Kurina nodded as she charged at the spider again, slashing with her chain blade at the joints on its legs. She had slowed it down considerably but it was not enough. Jirael was standing in position and his body was visibly strained. He couldn't control the highly pure chi properly and had to bear it as it ran through his veins. He was slowly starting to emit a red glow, which fused with his black chi. His combat power was rising rapidly. Kurina could feel the sudden change in pressure of the air.
"I have to hold on a bit longer. He's almost done."
She gritted her teeth as the spider tried charging at Jirael multiple times. It was an instinctual action to stop him from completing his transformation but Kurina was there. She was suffering heavy injuries since she had to put herself in harm's way to stop its advance. The spider was about to release it's paralysis gas again.
"I can't evade it this time. I'm sorry Jirael."
As the spider released it's gas, Jirael zipped by and picked her up.
"Thank you Kurina. You may rest for now. I'll handle this."
Jirael's hair was slightly spiked up. It remained black but it had a reddish tinge. His red chi had the texture of blood as it radiated out of his body with his black chi bordering it. His Kaminome 2nd Stage was still active. Jirael sat her down by the cave wall. He threw down his broken daggers.
"You shouldn't have pissed me off."
His chi flared up. He was releasing the pressure of a true lion now. The spider started to shake a bit. Jirael vanished...
*BANG*
He unleashed a furious punch on it, instantly crushing its armour and cracking the ground beneath.