"Hup!"
The sound of footsteps tearing through the rustlings of the forest leaves.
"Grr…"
Beasts. Fearsome beasts.
They were glaring and baring their teeth but the boy didn't stop.
"Haa!"
He hopped over them, almost as if he flew above them.
Whoosh—
Like a soft breeze, his feet moved at a steady pace, softly.
"Hup!"
He didn't stop at the cliff. A little push and he flew high above.
Tap…
Dark lumps of clouds clouded the skies.
"It isn't the best day huh… I better be quick."
The boy rushed underneath the gloomy sky, his eyes darting everywhere.
"Ah, found one."
'Let's see if I can pull this off…'
"Demonic Fist, Third Formation."
A dark red hue radiated seemed from his body. They were like whips, lightning whips striking down on their surroundings with sheer power.
Swoosh—
The boy slid his left leg back and stared at a sleeping wyvern. His eyes carried a ferocity unbefitting of a boy who looked like he had just stepped into adulthood.
Whoosh—
He kicked off but there was only silence in his acceleration. There was not even a footprint. He was as silent as the wind.
'Wyverns.'
They were beasts that could wipe out a city with a single breath. They were famous for ravaging settlements to search for the 'Ascension Stone'.
'I am still no match for a wyvern. I'd be shredded into pieces before I even knew it. but…'
His eyes were red, the lightning streaks were growing more violent as time passed, and a fierce killing intent shrouded him.
'That's only if I faced it head-on!'
"Rising Demonic Dragon."
Whoosh—
Instantly.
Boom—
The earth shook and the trees wailed in the gust.
A dragon.
A dragon dyed in red.
It rose from the boy's fist and swallowed the Wyvern.
"..."
Silence reigned.
There was a corpse, black blood oozing out of its orifices like little streams.
And then, there was a boy standing in front of the corpse with a shattered arm.
"Huff… huff…"
His panting rang out in the silence.
"Shit…"
He tried to keep his legs straight, not wanting to fall. But the exhaustion was greater than his will.
Thump—
"Fuck… I shouldn't have done that."
***
I opened my eyes.
A familiar ceiling greeted me.
Master must have laid me down here again.
'I don't even know how many times I had to see the same scene…'
Three years had passed.
The weak boy who had to die thousands of times while climbing a cliff was no more.
Those times were gone.
"Hmm… right, it's still morning. I should probably get over with my daily routine."
I got out of the wooden bed.
The swords were still neatly arranged; their shine was evergreen.
"Haa…"
There was a surging urge inside me. The swords were captivating, seemingly putting a spell of bewitching on me.
But I managed to resist the temptation and walked over to my clothes.
A robe with a fantastic silver embroidery of a sword on its back caught my eye. It was simply a piece of art. It had some kind of charm to it that made me crave it.
I picked it up and tried it on.
It was a perfect fit.
'Did Master leave it here for me?'
Well, that was kind of him.
I left the small hut with the robe on. It was comfy.
***
"Haha… I can't believe this thing tormented me for god knows how many times."
That wretched cliff was standing in front of me, proud and tall as ever. This was the same cliff which I had fallen off thousands of times.
The fact that a mass of rock tormented me to such an extent left cold anguish in me.
'But this cliff was also one of the main reasons I had my growth spurt.'
If it wasn't for this cliff, my body wouldn't have been able to take the hellish times of the nights.
{Curse uplifted- 98%}
The curse was almost lifted. Maybe tonight would be the last time I would have to go through that experience.
"Fuu…"
But that could wait. Let's just focus on completing my tasks.
I took my leg back and breathed softly. The sky was clouded by gloomy clouds, looking down at me.
The cliff was also staring down at me.
But I was calm. As I said, I was not the weak boy from three years ago.
Boom—
I kicked off.
My steps were fast, soft and silent.
The one thing I learned from Master was that strength didn't necessarily mean destruction. There's a certain beauty in silence and cold fury.
And I wanted to harness that.
'One.'
But it wasn't easy. No, it's not going to be easy.
It's in human nature. Destruction is a symbol that represents strength at its finest. Learning to express anger and strength in the form of cold rage and silence isn't going to be easy at all.
'Ninety.'
But I wanted that at any cost.
It was beautiful in my eyes. There was no need for fancy explosions and ear-splitting sounds. I wanted everything to be peaceful, even destruction.
'Hundred and ninety.'
Schwing—
A blade passed barely issued my neck.
I knew who it was.
But I couldn't stop here. If I stopped for even a second, my neck would be on the ground.
Swish—
Schwing—
Master was ruthless as ever, not giving me any time to rest or even understand the situation. But that couldn't make me lose my composure.
I calmly predicted the sword path while moving my body busily to avoid them and descend at the same time.
'Five hundred and eighty.'
The blades became sharper by the second and it seemed like Master wanted to kill me for real.
Then I also had to take this seriously.
'Extrasensory Perception.'
{Extrasensory Perception} (Grade 5)
-Close your eyes and spread your senses. You will see some things that can't be seen through the naked eye. But it is impossible for a normal human being to do this. Yes, for a normal human being. But your perception is over the roof! That's why you can sense things that cannot be seen through the naked eye. A new world! A new vision!
-The extent of sense depends on the user's mastery over the skill.
A skill that I obtained while training my senses and taking advantage of my overwhelming perception. Probably my 9.000 perception stat played a vital role in bringing my skill to Grade 5 and this was the reason that kept me alive from getting myself cut in half.
'Thousand!'
I didn't stop even after completing the thousand mark. There was a little surprise for my Master.
"Hup!"
"...!"
I jumped before Master could declare the training as finished, catching off-guard for a moment. Or that's what I thought.
"Heh."
He smirked as if he expected that from the very start.
But this was within my calculations.
And that led me to my next move.
Demonic Fist, Third Formation.
Demonic Fist originally only had one formation, Birth of the Demonic Dragon. But that didn't mean no other formations were possible.
And thus, I created other formations.
"Descending Demonic Dragon."
My leg was falling at Master. It was a red dragon with its mouth wide open to swallow and tear down its prey.
Boom—
"Ugh…!"
My face contorted in the pain. My leg was probably shattered by the impact.
But that wasn't the end.
Dust was flying everywhere. And by the looks of it, Master was probably inflicted by some damage. But I wasn't foolish enough to believe that.
He was the Sword Saint for a reason. I knew he wouldn't go down so easily.
So.
"Demonic Fist, First Formation."
I had to use my most powerful technique, a technique that I had honed to my bones.
"Birth of the Demonic Dragon."
Whoosh—
{Demonic Fists Formation (Grade-7) evolves into Demonic Dragon Formations(Grade-5)}
I couldn't remember what happened after that.
***