Aric had yet to even bring down the arm he just used to cast his wind blast when he felt a warm liquid rain on his neck.
He looked over and color drained from his face.
He couldn't believe what was happening and how simultaneously fast they were occurring.
His gaze locked onto Torin's, and he could only helplessly watch the latter struggle to grab onto the fleeting life force that was rapidly seeping out of him.
The latter's expression looked wronged, disgruntled, unhappy, and unwilling.
However, the more he struggled and spasmed, the faster he bled, and the dimmer the light in his eyes got.
"Argh!!!" Aric let out an anguished howl the moment Torin breathed his last.
"Come out and fight me fair and square, you scurrying rat!" He screamed, his eyes glazing over with madness.
He wasn't even listening to the things he was saying; after all, who in their right mind, would have such and advantage and choose to ignore them.
On the two occasions when they had exploited the advantage of an open space, they had made sure Ryujin bled.
However, now that the tables have turned, they expected him not to do the same?
Laughable!
Aric, however, didn't need to wait long for a response, as a voice suddenly floated over from behind him.
"In time." It said, prompting Arin to turn towards it's source.
However, he had barely turned halfway when a snow white blur suddenly flew past him.
It was only briefly, but he could see the grin plastered on Ryujin's face; the kid seemed to be having the time of his life, and what's worse, hadn't even spared him a glance.
However, by the time the meaning of Ryujin's words sunk into his psyche, Aric finally realized why the latter hadn't deigned him a glance.
"Eron Watch-au..." He instinctively tried to shout a warning to his only surviving comrade.
However, his vocal chords seemed to have been overwhelmed, and thus, faltered for a second.
Eron hadn't expected Ryujin to be able to repeatedly goad and lead them by the nose.
Such a feat would require one to have thought so far ahead of the battle, that they would have prepared a contingency for every anomaly that might falter their plans.
These were behavioral traits that could only be found in political leaders who were innately gifted at scheming, and battle hardened warriors, who had been wizened through several life and death experiences.
So, how could he have thought that he would find all these traits hidden within a five year old brat?
He was in the midst of gradually comprehending how much he had the little kid, when he spotted latter heading towards him.
He froze like he had seen a ghost, and could only watch as Ryujin ripped two arrows out of Torin's corpse, and then plunged it at his face.
Puchi!
The arrow emerged from the back of Eron's skull, his final sight bringing him to his final thoughts.
'Shit! We fucked up.'
With that, his consciousness drifted into the abyssal darkness of eternal slumber.
---
Barely five seconds passed between Ryujin's words to Aric and Eron's final thoughts.
"Four Down, One To Go." He muttered, landed and turning towards Aric.
"Now it's just us." He said, a crazed grin plastered in his face as battle intent began to seep out of his body, into the area.
An eerie calmness washed over Aric, as he closed Lugard and Torin's eyes.
He they lay the duo beside their fallen comrades before turning to face Ryujin.
"I know you're stronger and better than this; you've shown us plenty, but I know there's still more.
You would need to go all out because I don't plan on leaving this place alive."
With that Aric took of his furry overcoat. His toned, brick-like arms bulging and flexing, even as his skin resited the harsh cold winter wind.
Ryujin frowned slightly. He had his reasons for sparing Aric for last.
"Though, I would have loved to get some information out of you.
But since you want to join your comrades with an honorable death, the I shall respect your decision by going all out." Ryujin said, deciding to search for answers another day.
His expression turned absolutely seriously, as he took off his furry overcoat.
There was no point in camouflaging oneself during in this sort of battle; no, excess weight would serve as a disadvantage instead.
This was a test of strength and a battle to the death.
Ryujin couldn't say he was totally confident; after all, he could tell Aric was stronger and obviously had other Elemental Techniques and Martial Arts in he had yet to reveal.
The only reason why he had been able to kill the latter's comrades was simply because they had underestimated him, and thus didn't reveal all their cards; a lapse he had perfectly capitalized on.
In retrospect, he had sustained some injuries despite having shown nearly all of his skills.
But for Aric who was their leader both in strength and mind, and had yet to reveal much, Ryujin could tell that all the experience he had gained from their previous bouts would have no bearing on the outcome of their impending battle.
He would have to learn on the go and adapt on the fly; all whilst being extremely careful since Aric was planning to fight him to the death.
If he didn't dig deeper than his depths, then Ryujin knew he might not survive.
---
The desolate open area within this part of the forest painted the scene to be akin to an arena.
Whilst the surrounding trees swayed like excited fans looking to spectate an incredible fight.
Everywhere was quite as two figures faced each other, the tension in the air so palpable that one could almost taste it.
Then a little brezzes fleeted past, plucking off a leave from a fated tall tree.
Then the leaf landed, and as if signalling them to begin, they both charged towards eachother.
Aric let out a guttural roar, as he brandished his [Shocking Fists] like a divine hammers of judgement, intent on crushing a blasphemer into a bloody paste.
Ryujin moved as swiftly as the wind, meeting the latter's attack with his [Willow Leaf Palm].
However, the moment they collided, his expression paled as he was sent flying like a kite with a lose string.
Bang!
Ryujin crashed into the fated tree, coughing out a mouthful of blood as his entire right arm became unresponsive and went limp.
"Bring out all you've got!" Aric yelled as he took a step forward.
[Dance of the Wind Spirit]
His body suddenly glided forward, swiftly swerving it's way towards the rising Ryujin like a tornado with no aim.
Then he brandished his fingers into a claw, before swiping aggressively at his foe.
[Wind Scythe]
Five sharp arcs of condensed wind slashed towards Ryujin like the claw of a dragon, tearing apart everything in their path as though they wouldn't abate until the entire forest was render into pieces.
Ryujin moved bolted of his position, looking to dash to the side, however the arcs of wind suddenly grew in length, cutting off his escape route as they reached him.
"Hmph!" Ryujin snorted in response, before leaping slightly off the ground.
He twisted his entire body around his gravity core before entering an horizontal spin that cased his entire body to pass through the gap between the wind scythes.
However the moment he landed, Aric had already arrived before him, planting another [Shocking Fist] straight into his jaws.
Bam!
The sound of flesh and bone meeting in brutal harmony filled the air, as Ryujin's vision blurred out momentarily.
His body skidded across the ground, bouncing and tumbling repeatedly, before smacking into a tree that snapped him back to focus.
Keugh!
He coughed out a mouthful of blood as he quickly circulated his Vital Qi all through his injured body parts.
"It's better you take this seriously, otherwise, I might end your life before you get the chance to show me all you've got!"
Aric shouted, grabbing his fist tighter as he once again rode the wind towards his opponent.
Ryujin quick stood to his feet before unleashed his mental energy, spreading across the entire area as he latched onto the atmospheric Qi and tumbled them into a chaotic mess.
Several fierce winds whipped into the area, as Ryujin used his mental energy to direct the towards, following right behind them with his Chaotic Steps.
The heavy gust blew past Aric, making his irregular movement more chaotic.
The latter felt the wind he was striding on lose slightly it's bearings, causing him to lose his balance as he watched Ryujin arrive with a punch.
[Shocking Fist]
Bam!
Aric blocked it perfectly. He had seen Ryujin use this technique multiple times already; however, it was only a weak imitation as the technique didn't belong to him.
It was a technique that involved concentration one's strength and momentum into a single strike, then upon impact, all that force would travel into one's enemies' body to wreak havoc.
However, this technique had one major flaw. Since it was a one-punch technique, should it miss or be blocked, it would leave it's user with a momentary opening.
Aric straightened his fist into a palm. A sharply spinning wind encased his hand as he stabbed towards Ryujin's chest with a fiendish grin.
However, upon looking to relish in the latter's shock, he found the him sporting a cunning smile instead.
[Mixed Art; Fist Style - Overlapping Shock]
Bam Bam Bam!
Aric felt the weight of a freight train hit him in the face, chest and groin; each of them stronger that the last.
~Blergh~
He threw up successive mouthfuls of blood, before skidding across the slippery ground, rebounding of one tree and crashing into another.
~Huff!~ ~Huff!~ ~Huff!~
Ryujin came to a halt, panting heavily as he tried to regain control of his roiling blood.
Though, Chaotic Steps enabled one to move based on reflex instead of logic, but just as it's name suggests, it also throws one's Qi circulation into chaos.
To use this technique one needed to use one half of their focus to suppressed the extent of the chaotic blood flow, and the other half to distribute their body weight around their gravity core.
The distribution of weight allowed one's body to be as light as feather, and thus, readily responsive to any and every change in reflex.
Though, Ryujin could automate his blood flow, he still needed to focus on his weight distribution; and itvwas only because he had done this several times in training thst he was able to use only half of his focus for the entire process.
He would furtherly then split the other half into two, using one part to maintain his metavision and the other part to use any other single technique he wished.
However, what he just used was a mixture of two techniques he had yet to strain a perfect mastery over; [Overlapping Fists] and [Shocking Fist].
Using both exceeded the normal limits of his focus and thus he had been heavily drained despite failing to deal a tenth of their combined damage.
This fraction however, had exceeded his expectations, and with an impressed smile, he converted the atmospheric Qi into Focus and Vital Qi, as he began to replenish and heal himself.
Aric struggled to his feet before throwing up another mouthful of blood. He cleaned his lips before revealing a maddened grin.
"You're finally showing up to the fight, unh... Good, let's do this."
Bang!
Aric erupted from his spot as he used his movement technique once again.
Then just as he got within range, Ryujin once again threw the entire area into a mess of chaotic winds.
However, it was in that moment Aric's voice entered his ears.
"I can see you have a way of affecting the environment despite being an unawakened.
However, trying to tussle control of the wind against someone with an awakened wind affinity is fruitless, isn't it?"
The moments Aric's words ended, Ryujin suddenly felt all the wind in immediate vicinity vanish.
"Shit!"
His words echoed as he watched Aric prepare to deal true damage.