In essence, tracking a wildebeast was not so different from tracking a regular animal, something Riaz had the opportunity to practice on occasion.
In addition, since he could utilize his qi to enhance his perception, it also wasn't that difficult to spot clues, as long as he knew what to look out for.
His qi surged and Riaz quickly sped in the direction the wildejacks had taken during their escape, keeping his eyes peeled.
Because the surrounding area was mostly flat, it wasn't difficult to scan the horizon. However, since there were no tracks or signs of them, Riaz concluded the wildejacks must have burrowed into the ground.
After a few minutes, Riaz came to a sudden halt and calmly stomped his foot on the flat ground surface.
"They could be hiding nearby, but... what is that?"
Riaz raised one arm and shielded his eyes from the sun while his gaze traveled far into the distant sky, where a flock of large birds was in erratic flight while circling an area.
He recklessly approached and rose to an elevated position by climbing a massive rock formation.
When his eyes trained themselves on the close-by flying creatures in the air, he was finally able to piece together what was happening.
The flock of flying beasts was engaging a potbellied man in battle; one who braved a string of attacks from above with nothing but bravery and skill.
The warrior stood at the center, letting out roaring laughter as he brandished a glaive in each hand.
'His shout holds power, but his voice is still young." Riaz crouched and pondered his next move.
The central question he was asking himself was whether he should get involved in this or not.
Technically, this was none of his business, but, knowing the ferocity of wildebeasts, he also couldn't just expect this young fellow to handle the entire flock on his own.
Besides, after his last encounter with wildebeasts, he preferred to err on the side of caution.
And so, he decided to compromise and sit back to watch how the warrior handled himself, and if latter should find himself in dire straits, he would intervene as long as it was within his capabilities.
Riaz lowered his body even further after making up his mind and observed the battle with great vigilance.
He wasn't all too surprised to see the stranger endure for so long. This glaive warrior had great skill and a haughty attitude to match.
While these vulture-like birds descended onto him with feathers that gleamed like sharp razors, the warrior met them with bravado and steel.
The young warrior's skillfully cutting through bird after bird gradually convinced Riaz that his worries might have been misplaced.
In light of the obvious fact that his help was not needed, he should have left to find the wildejacks, but he refused to do so.
He had become too engrossed in the battle unfolding before his eyes. More than anything, the warrior's raw approach of wielding two glaives had somewhat fascinated him.
The warrior remained in one spot for the entire battle and merely used a fixed set of movements to rotate around when necessary.
He lowered his weapons to invite an attack and then struck with overwhelming range when the birds approached.
Riaz couldn't imagine how strong this glaive warrior must have been to strike with such swiftness, despite the glaives being handled one-handedly.
Indeed, he could instinctively feel that the glaive warrior was stronger than him.
The warrior raised his voice, "Is this all you have? I dare you to come down, each one of you!"
His glaives pierced and slashed while, with every twist of his body, a worn-out scarf would flow behind him, barely able to keep up with his swift motions.
Riaz became mesmerized by his martial skill until suddenly, his stomach bunched up and he felt a chill run down his spine.
His eyes shifted to the side where, close by, a stray razor-sharp feather sharply descended, falling rather than floating.
Not a second after, he also felt a breeze, accompanied by a winged shadow being cast onto him from above.
A sense of urgency manifested in his heart.
Riaz had already drawn his sword and, along with the sudden contraction of the shadow, rolled to the side while simultaneously placing his blade between him and the threat.
His back pressed against the rock and then he felt the resistance of flesh at the tip of his blade, if only for an instant before it pierced through.
He barely had time to blink before a large avian body slammed into him and tried to tear through him with its beak.
His hand quickly shot towards the bird's neck and clamped down on it, all the while his blade stuck out from its back like a marker coated in beast blood.
The winged beast cried with flapping wings and spent its last moments struggling in vain before finally meeting its end.
Riaz feared that this might happen, but luckily he was quick to react and managed to hold onto his life.
He could only draw a sharp breath before doing anything else. After all, the bird had made no sound in its approach and he had yet to recover from the surprise.
His eyes slowly landed on the dead beast, filling his heart with apprehension.
Now that he saw the bird from up close, he noticed that it had bizarre feathers on its wings that were sharp like razor blades while being the only feathered part of its body.
The rest of it was covered in a smooth hide that seemed to offer little protection.
Having a grasp on the beasts' vulnerabilities would make it easier to deal with them; however, the size of the creature bothered him somewhat.
The birds appeared smaller from afar, but, now that most of his body was buried under the bird's carcass, he had to re-think his approach and take their large bodies into account.
The weight of this wildebeast was nothing to laugh at either.
Pinned down by the bird, it was hard to breathe and he could feel a warm liquid slowly coat his skin and armor.
He was already used to the smell of blood, but he wasn't too happy at the thought of bathing in it for the second time.
It was only a matter of seconds before he shoved the dead bird aside or, more precisely, kicked it out of the way and climbed to his feet.
He couldn't even take a step forward before his body lurched forward with a cough and blood's coppery texture spread inside his mouth.
Being slammed by the bird had left numerous cuts and unseen injuries on him; however, he wouldn't let that diminish his ability to fight.
He found that two more birds had designated him as prey, so he wasted no time leaping down from the rock to occupy a more favorable position.
Just like the glaive warrior, he, too, could do nothing more than wait for the enemy to make the first move.
It had to be noted that the birds possessed great agility while airborne, thus he kept in mind that the situation could change at a moment's notice.
Overall, their attack patterns were unpredictable as is and the glaive warrior fought hard to maintain the status quo, luring down a bird at a time; however, with Riaz's appearance, the scales once more tilted.
As such, about half of the flock split away from the main body and turned their attention towards Riaz.
The glaive warrior didn't miss the fact that so many birds had left, and his eyes lit up with curiosity at the discovery of a young swordsman.
There was a considerable distance between the two and each of the two could only rely on themselves for the time being.
That's what Riaz had intended to do and lowered his guard on purpose, prepared to strike.
One hand layered on top of the other held firmly onto the handle of the sword, slowly guiding the sword's tip downward.
Soon the birds took the bait and two of them retracted their wings in a free fall. Approaching Riaz's level they then unfolded those wings and trained their claws on him.
His heart was slightly shaken, but his focus was not.
The torso was vulnerable, thus he extended his arms and drew an arc from below, slashing vertically before the claws could meet him.
A clean cut.
The beast hurled its body back with a sudden flap of its wings, a clear red line splitting the torso before its lifeless body fell to the ground.
The first bird died without much of a fight and the other was soon upon him.
However, Riaz had practiced his footwork and his strikes. It was all second nature by now.
The positions of his feet shifted and the tip of the blade that was reaching for the sky now descended sharply with his body simultaneously retreating one step.
The other bird fell and two carcasses lay at his feet while fresh blood ran down the blade of his sword.
Riaz's arms trembled, plus his breathing had grown a little erratic not so long ago.
He didn't have the chance to recover from the earlier encounters yet and it was only now that he gradually felt the vile influence of these desolate lands.
The air, rich in untamed energy, made him feel sick now that he was breathing it in greater quantities.
He felt that his strength made a stagnant recovery while the energies that entered his body seemed to cause more harm than good.
'Teacher said it would gradually become easier to breathe, but it's an uncomfortable feeling nonetheless.'
His only choice was to hope that it would not negatively affect his condition as the fight went on, the rest was up to his foundations, his skills.
He remained more or less steadfast even when he lacked experience fighting an airborne threat; however, dealing with this type of enemy, the range of his blade couldn't compare to a glaive's.
Riaz also knew that, while he could learn from the glaive warrior's example and try to apply his methods to the sword, the glaive and sword were fundamentally different weapons.
Clearly, he needed another solution.
He was constantly picking his brain for what to do, but his thoughts were interrupted by the attack of another bird.
He felled it, and just like the glaive warrior he struck down any birds that followed.
One by one, the birds were decimated by glaive and sword, yet their numbers seemed inexhaustible.
In that fashion, ten minutes came to pass and dozens of birds now lay on the ground.
Both warriors had braved a ceaseless onslaught under the blazing sun, but drops of sweat were gradually pooling together on Riaz's face.
As the exhaustion piled up, Riaz worried that he may not be able to fight off the next wave.
Poor as his luck was, the birds descended again and he bitterly swallowed.
His sweaty hands produced another ounce of strength in anticipation of the attack.
At the last moment, however, a piercing cry rang throughout the area and compelled the diving birds to stop and rejoin the flock.
Riaz paused, then looked to the side to find the glaive warrior likewise spared from another attack.
As though sensing Riaz's gaze, the glaive warrior turned his head and locked eyes with him.
Next, he pointed his glaive at the sky and Riaz's eyes followed the direction he was pointing to.
Riaz had to squint his eyes and could barely see a dark silhouette in the sky; one using the sun as a backdrop.
'Is he saying that the sound earlier was made by that beast?' Riaz focused and his eyes gradually adjusted to the brightness.
Riaz had to admit that the beast had hidden well.
It was difficult to gauge the exact distance of the silhouette, but it was, in all likelihood, farther away and larger than the rest.
Riaz grumbled, worrying that he may have stumbled into a messy situation.
All things considered, the warrior shouldn't be wrong about this large bird being the source behind the sudden change in the flock's behavior.
Riaz reminded himself to stay vigilant.
The parallels to his encounter with the wildejacks were apparent and he feared that their plans to play it safe would be quickly overturned.
The suspicions were proven correct when the large beast let out another resounding cry, following which the entire flock burst out in a cacophony of jarring screeches.
Riaz's face paled in response to the atmosphere filling with savage bloodlust that left a prickly feeling on his skin.
What remained of the flock now swarmed around the largest bird, heeding commands that human ears could not understand.
His gut warned him of a dangerous situation that could likely snuff out any hope of escaping with his life.
Alone he was bound to be bird food, but, then again, he wasn't alone.
His eyes returned to the glaive warrior, who was already mouthing something at him.
"What?" shouted Riaz, unable to read the other's lips, the same even if he was twice as perceptive.
At that moment, the entire flock began a coordinated attack, descending in greater numbers before Riaz had a chance to receive an answer.
One bird, two birds, and more, their flock was descending onto them like a swarm of locusts; the situation was truly dire.
At once, the glaive warrior broke into a sprint towards Riaz, catching the latter off guard.
Riaz tried to find meaning in his actions and in doing so couldn't overlook the expression on the glaive warrior's face.
That guy was vividly grinning from ear to ear with his glaives trailing behind him, that flowing scarf in-between.
'Is that guy an idiot?' Riaz couldn't help but smirk, somewhat helpless at the discovery.
Still, there was some fight left in him. Maybe the glaive warrior's confidence, which bordered recklessness, was contagious.
Would they make it out of this by joining hands? He didn't need an answer; in his gut, he knew what to do.
"Tch, fine! If I die today, so blame it on my damn curiosity." Riaz gnashed his teeth and his feet kicked off the ground, heading for the only feasible ally.
The eagerness of the other showed immediately.
"Good! Let's do this!" he roared as he picked up his pace the moment Riaz began his approach.
Racing the looming danger, they sped towards each other with utmost haste.
Wild air currents knocked against their bodies while flying wildebeasts rushed them from above.
The sound of the birds was deafened by the sheer focus to make it to the other.
Only a few large steps remained and Riaz's heartbeat quickened, then, finally, they met.
However, they didn't come to a halt, but simultaneously performed a 180-degree turn and slammed into one another, each having the other's back.
"Don't know who you are," the glaive warrior laughed, "but you ain't half bad."
This guy had prickly dark hair with a streak of white. Not counting the oversized scarf, he was dressed simply from head to toe and wore not a piece of armor.
Upon a closer look, he was around Riaz's age. The voice had given away that much but, catching a glimpse of his face, he could now confirm it.
If there was one thing to be curious about, it was the fact that the young fellow had a pronounced potbelly, despite the otherwise lean and muscular physique.
Riaz wanted to say something but the situation didn't allow it.
His eyes sharpened. 'Here they come.'
He brandished his sword without hesitation and fought back the enemy birds.
It helped that his mind was eased by knowing he could entrust his back to the glaive warrior.
At most he'd have to deal with two birds at a time, maybe even three. Turned out that the span of their wings made it extremely difficult for the birds to attack in larger numbers.
Riaz knew that individually, he'd be unable to protect his own back, and luckily, he didn't have to.
"Can you still fight?" asked Riaz, to which the other responded with a laugh, all the while cleaving a bird in two.
Without turning his head, the glaive warrior returned the question, "What about you? Your cuts are a bit shallow."
Riaz had just kicked away a carcass when he heard the question and trembled.
"This..." A faint blush formed on his slightly pale face. "I don't know how to reinforce my weapon."
The glaive warrior exclaimed loudly in disbelief.
"You can't?" His voice held neither ridicule nor disappointment, rather he sounded genuinely surprised.
There were little under fifty more birds left and Riaz was certain that he'd run out of steam before the other warrior did.
He spoke with arduous breaths, "Listen, we need to do something. It would help if I knew what we're dealing with."
The other warrior replied, "What, you don't know?"
Riaz curled his lips at once.
'This fellow, why do I feel slightly annoyed?'
He quickly shrugged off his misgivings and rotated with the glaive warrior, slashing horizontally to behead a bird that was staying low.
Riaz asked, "About that boss bird, do you know anything?"
The glaive warrior used the long shaft of his weapon to nudge Riaz aside, then used the other polearm to chop an approaching bird.
He thought for a moment, then raised his eyes to the sky, saying, "Boss bird? You mean that, huh?"
He continued, "That's the Razorquill Matriarch."
Riaz immediately responded, "Yeah, that! We need to take that one down. Can you do it?"
Without skipping a beat, the glaive warrior confidently replied, "You bet! Don't you know who I am?"
"No, I don't!" spoke Riaz matter-of-factly, but this didn't discourage the other in the slightest.
The glaive warrior turned his head around with a grin and boasted, "I am Tigris, the one and only disciple of the Glaive King!"
Riaz was dumbfounded but reached for Tigris' shoulder and pulled him aside before cutting down a foe that the latter had neglected.
"Eyes open, you idiot!" yelled Riaz.
Tigris chuckled wrily. "I won't say thanks."
"Maybe, if we can kill enough of the other birds, we can force the matriarch to step in." Riaz voiced his thoughts.
Tigris readily agreed, "Leave it to me!"
"What are you planning?" Riaz felt a tingling sensation on his back, starting from the lower back and climbing to his scalp.
Rather than answering, Tigris grinned and crossed his glaives in front of him with a clang.
Sparks danced around the blades as they touched, merging into an arc of electricity when they separated again.
"Stay clear!" He stepped forward, performing a series of steps, and his glaives danced around him as he did.
Riaz quickly vacated the immediate area surrounding Tigris, which drew the attention of several birds.
While Tigris danced and revolved once, then twice, Riaz braved the onslaught of five birds.
He was quickly overwhelmed and, sure enough, a bird dug its claws into his shoulder, dragging his body to the ground, whereafter three more birds landed and dodged Riaz's vehemently swung blade; a desperate last-ditch effort to keep them at bay.
But sure enough, these birds wouldn't give up that quickly, not when they had already successfully downed their prey.
With stalling breaths, Riaz clamored on the ground as the panic slowly set in.
He was nearly assured of his end, but then he witnessed a bright flash, followed by an arc of light that passed him overhead. The birds gathering around him were left dead in its wake.
Even now he couldn't say for sure what it was, but he did have an idea and breathed a sigh of relief.
As he sought to stand, his eyes wandered to Tigris, who firmly grasped his glaives and never once slowed down.
Tigris roared, "That was the first form!"
His body revolved once more and the blades of his polearms crossed, then, with quivering eyes, he slashed and launched a cross-shaped blade of lightning into the air.
Birds had long stayed clear of him but could not escape the reach of his curved energy blade.
The blade passed through the air unhindered until about halfway into their midst before dissipating.
Riaz had finally stood up and watched in amazement as a string of corpses rained down before his eyes.
'Such power... but how? Tigris is the same age as me.'
This realization struck him deeply and for a moment he felt truly negligible as a warrior.
As he was staring down the figurative gulf between him and Tigris, the latter continued his performance.
"And that... was the second form," he declared at the end of his previous move.
It's just that, this time around, Riaz felt something off about Tigris. He could tell that his voice lacked the earlier power and his movements had gradually slowed.
Riaz spared no moment and rushed towards him, a sense of foreboding filling his chest.
The glaives in Tigris' hands began to vibrate and throw mighty sparks, but his knees shook with even greater intensity.
"T-third for—"
Tigris suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood and his body violently jerked at risk of toppling over.
He then reluctantly jammed one of his glaives into the ground to support himself and Riaz arrived promptly by his side.
Riaz offered him support to stand, but Tigris refused.
"I am fine," insisted Tigris. "Heh, looks like I can't handle the third form after all."
"Did you have to overdo it?" Riaz couldn't possibly condone Tigris' reckless behavior.
Their fate would be sealed if one of them lost the ability to fight.
Since that guy knew he couldn't do it, why did he have to push himself this far?
Well, despite how angry he was, he somewhat felt relieved knowing that Tigris couldn't go any further.
If Tigris had pulled another move of the same caliber as before, Riaz didn't know how he'd find the courage to stand before his teacher ever again.
Tigris smiled when suddenly, the matriarch let out another cry, whereafter all the other birds clamored loudly and withdrew.
He boasted proudly, "See? It worked!"
Riaz could also tell that the matriarch had finally chosen to take to the stage after recalling her flock.
Tigris felt his blood boil and was raring to fight; it was reflected in his eyes.
Unlike him, Riaz didn't appreciate their current situation in the slightest.
He was more aware of their limits.
As difficult as it was to admit, they were spent. A small part of him hoped that his teacher would bail them out, but he knew such thoughts did not suit a warrior.
He felt ashamed of his thinking, that he did, but he also couldn't help feeling afraid and desiring help.
'Cut it out, Riaz. How long do you intend to stay this way?'
He glanced at his shoulder; the shirt was ripped and stained with blood. Now that he thought about it, he had neglected his injured state for too long.
His eyes wandered down to where he felt all sticky and gross. He only now remembered to feel the due pain.
"Watch out!" a warning found his ears.
Suddenly, Tigris pushed Riaz, leaving the latter surprised until he realized they were under attack.
Riaz was thankful.
It was thanks to Tigris that several flying projectiles narrowly missed him. However, that didn't mean that they could relax just yet.
'The matriarch is here.' He could sense that the fluctuations of the wind had subtly changed.
He raised his head and finally perceived the appearance of the matriarch in its entirety.
It loomed above them with large wings and sinister-looking feathers of dark iron color; once in a while, it would distinctly flap its wings to launch them from the tips of her wings.
"It can shoot feathers like darts?" shouted Riaz in a high-pitched voice, then glared at Tigris. How could he forget to mention something this important?
The latter felt wronged and argued, "I didn't know that either!" then picked up his glaive and used a movement technique to leap and dodge from spot to spot.
"Anyway," Riaz cut in front of Tigris, "can you use another one of those lighting arts?"
"I don't think they'll let me even if I could." Tigris shut down the suggestion almost immediately.
"No, that's alright, I might have an idea." Riaz sheathed his sword, then picked up a couple of rocks and took aim at the matriarch.
He threw the rocks with all his might and, while the matriarch shattered one with its wings, the other found its mark and struck the head.
In the face of the enraged matriarch's outrage, Riaz successfully drew all of that ire to himself.
As quickly as he could, he turned toward the massive rock formation from before and shouted at Tigris, "Follow me!"
The carefree Tigris did as prompted, lagging shortly behind.
It's no surprise that the matriarch thought they were trying to escape, so she screeched loudly, then led the remainder of the flock in pursuit.
The matriarch's bestial eyes were trained on Riaz all the while, eager to tear him apart.
Tigris called out to Riaz, "So what's the plan?"
Riaz glanced over his shoulder and explained what he needed him to do.
Tigris nodded at the end of the explanation and passed Riaz by, running ahead.
He popped one of his glaives up, changing his grip, then readied it for a throw.
Arriving near the large rock, he braked his run, feet sliding sideways across the ground, and infused qi into his weapon before hurling the glaive towards the upper end of the rock formation.
The glaive cut through the air and lodged itself in the rock just as Riaz arrived with the matriarch giving chase.
"Good!" Riaz's eyes widened from the thrill while his steps grew heavier and stronger.
The matriarch had no difficulty catching up with him and tailed him from above while waiting for a chance to launch its feathers at him.
Aware of his predicament, Riaz charged towards the glaive and spat a blob of saliva into his palm, then rubbed his hands together before bending his knees.
The matriarch stopped and unleashed another flurry of feathers against him, but he leaped with all his strength and avoided all of them.
He reached the glaive in the rock and swung himself with both hands before vaulting over it, reaching even greater heights.
Most importantly, he reached an altitude above the matriarch's and, upon reaching the peak of the parabole, flailed with his limbs.
"Uagh!" He screamed, nearly biting his tongue, but got back to his senses when a bird flew toward him from the side.
His body quickly stabilized mid-air as he drew his sword to defend and then his blade clashed with the bird's claws.
He pulled up his leg to kick the beast, borrowing momentum, whereafter his body finally plunged towards the matriarch's back.
In a state of awe, Tigris watched as Riaz held his sword in reverse grip and descended until he finally reached the matriarch and struck it.
His eyes and mouth opened in anticipation, yet the result came as a shock.
Riaz tried piercing the wildebeast's hide, but even after putting all his weight into the attack, he was not able to penetrate.
"What? How?" Riaz despaired and, for a moment, lost all strength in his body.
The very next second, the matriarch flapped her wings with all her strength and rose skyward.
It was all so sudden and the acceleration was too great.
Riaz could feel the overbearing air resistance press down on his back and shoulders, thus it was difficult to jump off.
The time for split-second decisions had come and so, with a heavy heart, Riaz chose to let go of his sword before throwing himself around the matriarch's slender neck.