"…it's a Rock Orc. An early rank Beta stage beast."
"Quickly tell me what else you know about it."
Looking at the 5m tall beast made that looked as if it was made entirely from rocks, Hiromi went through all the important information she knew about Rock Orcs.
"They are experts at camouflage and have good control over the earth element mainly rocks though, but the most dangerous thing about them is their insanely strong and robust body."
Vasari's confident smile widened slightly and if Hiromi knew his thoughts she would slap the back of his head.
'A good punching bag…'
Vasari clenched his fists as his excitement for a fight reached its peak.
As if agreed upon beforehand, both the human and Orc, who was watching the humans interact with amusement, dashed towards each other. Despite its large and bulky size the Rock Orc was surprisingly quick on its feet and caught Vasari slightly off guard.
'Tiger eating mountain and forest'
Vasari's movements became more animalistic as he moved on all fours but that did nothing to hinder his speed. In fact, he seemed more nimble and moved swiftly above the rocky surface of the mountain like a true predator.
'Art of Sun and Moon '
Pushing his Yin and Yang energies to the limits, he easily dodged the massive fist aimed at his body by leaping to the side before instantly pouncing towards the Roc Orc.
'Seven form Moon Worshiper: Gist of the full moon '
Vasari sent out three palm strikes in quick succession forming three ethereal palms made from his superior Qi. The three palms fused into one increasing not only its size but also power by more than 3 times.
*boof*
The palm strike cleanly connected against the Rock Orc causing his small bead-like eyes, filled with limited intelligence, to tremble in shock. It looked down at where the human had just struck it and noticed a huge chunk of rocks was missing from his abdomen.
"ARRGH!!" The Rock Orc roared not just in pain but also humiliation. How could it let a weakling from the human race hurt him to this extent? When has he ever been humiliated like this by a mere human boy of all things?
Hiromi, watching on the sidelines was shocked to her core when Vasari was able to injure the Rock Orc but that shock quickly turned to despair when she saw the surrounding rocks float above the ground before moving hastily towards the Orc, quickly recovering the empty part of his abdomen. She wanted to inform Vasari that it could heal itself but when she saw his toothy smile, her lips twitched in frustration.
"This idiot is seriously going to get me killed." She grumbled under her breath.
"Hahaha, what a good punching bag! Yes, it wouldn't be fun if you were that easy to break!"
The Orc grunted in annoyance and charged at the human. This time it wouldn't underestimate the human boy, it once again punched at the human but what it did caught the human by surprise.
The Orcs fist cannoned off the wrist attached to it and hurtled towards Vasari.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Vasari had little time to adjust his body.
The rock fist, half the size of his body, crashed into his body sending him flying into a large boulder.
"Gah!"
His spine and his ribs shook from the impact and if it wasn't for his bones being recently refined and tempered by Superior Qi, he had no doubts that he would've ended up paralysed from the neck down.
Vasari held the huge fist on either side and squeezed it, crushing it into dust.
"Who would have thought that the inside of your head wasn't actually filled with rocks."
"Gegegege."
Hearing a grating, scratchy sound, Vasari raised his eyebrows in surprise before furrowing them.
'Is this thing laughing at me?'
Vasari used the boulder as a springboard and kicked off it, rocketing towards the Orc. A common-looking sword appeared in his hand before he slashed horizontally, aiming for the Orcs' neck. The Orc reacted swiftly by willing the rocks around him to quickly form a shield to protect his upper body. The sword impacted the rocks which caused it to rebound. Vasari used the momentum caused by the rebound to slash once again but this time with more force than before.
The orc watched with fear and trepidation as the blade of the sword easily cut through his rock shield and that cocky smile of the human he hated the most right now appeared through the widening gap of his rock shield.
The Orc barely had time to react when the left fist of the human punched his face. Stumbling back a few steps, the Orc tried to regain its bearing but Vasari wouldn't allow that to happen.
*doof* *doof* *doof* *doof*
Vasari relentlessly assaulted the Orc with palm strikes, punches, kicks and slashes. Vasari didn't hold back and used all of his techniques to his advantage. The Orc would occasionally notice a weak spot in Vasari's movements but whenever it tried to exploit this opportunity he found himself on the losing end. The human could bend and twist his body in unbelievable ways and sometimes his punches would hurt more than usual. Fighting this human was the single most frustrating thing ever since he was not used to fighting such an agile and quick enemy who also had the strength to seriously hurt him.
"Aaaaghhh!" The orc roared in pain after its right shoulder was cleanly cut off and before he could heal himself Vasari executed his most powerful technique once again.
"Gist of the Full Moon." These were the last words the Rock Orc heard before his head exploded, ending his life instantly.
Seeing that the Orc was down for good, Vasari collapsed to the ground and lay on his back with his arms and legs spread out. His chest was heaving up and down, his knuckles were busted and bleeding, and a thin line of blood escaped the corner of his lips.
To the side, Hiromi watched the battle conclude with utter disbelief. If someone told her that a Superior Qi stage cultivator was able to not only fight toe to toe with but also kill a Beta stage beast, she would laugh in your face before sending you to a psychiatric ward. In fact, she considered checking herself in one, still not willing to believe what she saw.
Pinching herself to make sure she was actually awake, Hiromi stopped daydreaming and ran to Vasari to check on him.
"Vasari, are you ok?" She bent over and wiped the blood leaking from his lips.
"I'm fine…I'm gonna have a few bruises later though."
"Well, it's better than losing your life," Hiromi said while continuing to check his body for injuries. Besides his knuckles, he just had a few scratches here and there.
"Let's find somewhere to rest so I can treat your hands."
Vasari nodded and allowed Hiromi to help him up. His weakened state reminded her of all the times he teased her during this past week and she thought it was the perfect time to get some revenge.
"Vasari you look quite exhausted…jump on my back, I'll carry you for a while."
Vasari raised his eyebrows in amusement when he heard Hiromi patting her back like she was calling a child.
"Ah, Hiromi you're so kind," Vasari said before jumping on Hiromi's back. He copied her movements by wrapping his long legs around her waist and his arms rested over he shoulders.
Hiromi was taken aback by his shamelessness but she brought it on herself by offering and there was no way Vasari was going to give up a free piggyback ride.
And so, a 1.6m(5ft2) tall woman with a 2m(6ft5) tall man chilling on her back, traversed the rough terrain of the mountain in search of a cave.
"Why did you take the teeth of the Rock Orc? Are they valuable?" Vasari asked while resting his chin on top of Hiromi's head.
"I don't know how much they are worth but it's bound to fetch a decent sum."
"Why do you need so many gold coins? You're a core disciple of one of the 4 most powerful sects on the planet, I'm sure the sect would lend you all the coins you need." This was something Vasari wanted to ask for the past week but he constantly delayed asking.
"If I ask for anything from the sect then they will ask me to compensate with my body. I'm not like those other girls who would sacrifice my maidenhood for material gains. And for why I need the coins…I don't want to talk about it."
Vasari didn't pester her for answers and respected her wishes. "Well if you ever do want to talk about it I'll be here to lend an ear."
Hiromi hummed softly and the ends of her lips raised slightly.
"We've been walking around this stupid mountain range for weeks already. I'm pretty sure the tomb isn't here."
Hiromi stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a woman's voice not far from them. She reckoned they were less than 20 metres away and only because of the large rocks lending them cover were they able to remain hidden.
"Stop complaining. This is a mission given to us by the almighty Prasufis. We should be honoured instead of complaining."
"Tsk, why'd I have to get paired with you? Let's just meet up with the rest of the team. I heard that the team leader wants to kill that Black Firedrake. He thinks it might be the guardian of the tomb."
"We haven't finished searching this area though."
"Who cares, I'm 100% sure the entrance to the tomb wouldn't be in this random spot."
"Fine, let's leave then."
Hiromi stood still for another minute and a bit before moving again.
"I'm guessing those 2 are from the Church of Prasufis."
Hiromi nodded in confirmation and remembered when she first met some members of the Church of Prasufis. "Yes, they are. Most of the members are delusional idiots and treat us like slaves, even forcing some of the girls in the sect to service them in bed."
Hiromi spat in disgust remembering how some of her friends were used and then discarded like worthless trash.
Vasari had no change in expression as he listened to Hiromi's story. This was a common theme in the cultivation world. The strong bullying the weak was only natural in the world they lived in. It wasn't rare to hear stories about cultivators enslaving entire mortal towns or just outright slaughtering millions of lives just out of boredom.
After patiently listening to Hiromi ranting about the terrible Church of Prasufis members, they restarted their search for a place to rest. They ended up finding a small cave on the mountain side only 2.5m deep and 1.5m wide and the cave ceiling was lower than Hiromi. The only way Vasari was able to stay in the cave was by laying down which he didn't mind since his body was still a bit sore from the earlier battle.
"Give me your hands, I'll bandage it up."
Vasari obliged and Hiromi pulled out some bandages from her storage bag before tightly wrapping up his knuckles.
"If what that Church of Prasufis member said is true then you might not get the chance to fight the Black Firedrake after all."
Hiromi started the conversation while laying down comfortably next to Vasari and shamelessly used his arm as a pillow. There was hardly any light in the small cave making it hard for her to see but feeling Vasari's body next to hers comforted her. She couldn't imagine living in pure darkness like this 24/7 and this only made her respect for Vasari grow exponentially.
"That is unfortunate but I'm sure there are other strong beasts in this mountain range."
"My gosh still thinking about such things even though you're injured."
"Injured? Pfft please, these are only superficial wounds."
"Hmm, superficial wounds you say. What about this?"
She put her small hand where Vasari's bottom ribs were and pressed down slightly causing him to knit his eyebrows in pain.
"Just rest for a day or two so you can heal properly. Don't worry, this big sister will take special care of you~" Hiromi teased while squeezing Vasari's cheeks with her hands.
"Sigh…fine, but only for a day then we get moving again."