Arthur was at a point where he just wanted to give up.
A woman spoke up, her voice sounded like a sixteen year old but spoke with somewhat formality. She looked to be ordinary, black short hair with bangs, an ordinary gray robe with white floral patterns.
"Thou who shall trespass the lord's domain shall face consequences such as death. If thou rebels, kill them with no mercy."
The sophomores were nervous, "Are we going to die here?!" Arthur whispered as he cried.
"Shh…Senior, do you have a plan? How do we get out?" Vasyl freaked out.
August took a breath of air, he took a step forward and showed his respects to the lords.
"I do not wish to cause these lords any trouble, we will take our leave immediately and never come back," August tried to convince the lord to let them go but the woman wearing gold spoke up, "You barge into our domain unconditionally and now you want to leave?"
"Like hell we would let you guys go! Didn't you hear what the brat said?!" The man with goat legs vigorously said. The brat he was referring to was probably the girl with the black short hair.
"Senior really has guts! He spoke to the lords about wanting to leave?! I might as well die here!" Arthur complained while Vasyl shook his head.
"Senior," it looked like Vasyl wanted to say something to August. August turned around and had a questionable face on himself.
"What?" August was confused.
They both huddled close making sure no one could hear what they were about to say, "Do you know of the four devastations?" Vasyl asked.
"Nope," August had no clue since he was banished, A long lost tale that barely any mortal would know about. Surely, if you asked a mortal they would probably tell you to repeat it again and again with a confused look on their face, most likely, they would say no.
.
.
.
Once, a cultivator with a free spirit all around, was popular among the sects of the mortal realm. He was truly amazing at the arts, whether it was calligraphy, painting, or martial arts, he was the best of the best.
This cultivator's name was, indeed, August.
A forest filled with bamboo, a man dressed in gray pants with a robe of white and soft blue. He wore metal garments on his hands, mid-length had colorful rich brown hair, with highlights of a light tan, up his shoulders with loose bangs. His eyes were round with the color blue with the lining of yellow filling his eyes. He brandished his sword, cutting all sorts of bamboo and tree branches out of his way.
He was running swiftly until a sixteen year old voice called his name out, "August!"
His pace slowed down until he could see clearly, it was a man with black hair tied into a bun, his eyes a gray blue color, wearing a green lavish robe with light blue lining.
"Jin! Good timing, now run!" August yelled as he picked up his pace.
"What?!" Jin shouted with a confused face looking back at August.
It turns out that August was being chased by a giant bull beast, thrice the size of men, huge horns swirling, it was huffing loudly, growling as it chased August. Jin screamed and ran vastly. The bull chased after them both, all the screams scared the other animals away, it made it even harder for other hunters to hunt for food.
The hunters complained and gave up on their hunt for the day.
August set up a barrier in the forest, once they exit the forest they would be safe from being devoured by the bull.
"C'mon! Keep up, unless you want to be eaten by this monster!" August laughed as he swiftly ran.
Jin let out a cry, "It's not like I'm as fast as you!"
The bull snorted and picked up its pace.
"AHHHHH!!!!" Jin screamed, August seemed to be having a good time, laughing as he jumped through the branches and cutting down bamboo.
August was a few inches away from the border when he slowed his pace down.
"Uh…" August nervously chuckled, "The barrier is gone!" August spun in circles going back and forth. The barrier was a secret technique in which it could hold without any damage from mythical beasts and other cultivators. August wanted to catch the bull but it seems it would just cause havoc and destruction in the town. It'd be a bother to the elders and their disciples.
"OH! GREAT, YEAH! FANTASTIC, SPLENDID!" Jin sarcastically cried, still running in circles.
August was trying to think what kind of person or creature could break the barrier. Even if he made a new barrier, all of his mana would be drained and he wouldn't be able to stand up properly. Using this barrier is costly in mana.
A sudden idea popped up in August's mind, "Jin, follow me and make sure the bull is following us!"
Jin was even more confused but still went along with what August had planned in his mind. Beyond the barrier was a field, deep green grass covered half of the field, faded into a brown, beige color. There was sand covering the other half of the field, targets were set up with bow and arrows in a bucket. This was the hunters field.
Alongside the field, there was a cave, with torches having a sense of peace, this was known as the Youth cave, meant for the cultivator trainees.
All of the hunters and cultivators usually take breaks and practice their skills on the hunters field.
The sense of peacefulness filled the air until the sound of men wailing in the distance grew closer and closer, both the hunters and cultivators were confused until they could see the full scene of what was coming.
A bull thrice the size of men, with huge horns swirling, huffing and growling as it chased two men infront of it, one with a man dressed in gray pants with a robe of white and soft blue. He wore metal garments on his hands, mid-length had colorful rich brown hair, with highlights of a light tan, up his shoulders with loose bangs. The other one was a man with black hair tied into a bun, his eyes a gray blue color, wearing a green lavish robe with light blue lining.
It was August and Jin being chased by the bull beast!
Some weak cultivators and hunters ran away from the scene, others were confused.
"Make way! Make way! A beast coming through!" August yelled out, running from side to side. While August found a bit of joy in his heart Jin wasn't having a good time at all, he was completely terrified.
August stopped when he reached the field filled with sand, Jin just ran away to where the other hunters and cultivators were, terrified of the situation.
The bull stopped its feet onto the field, ready to run forward towards August. August swiftly grabbed a bow and arrow from the buckets nearby. He released mana onto the arrows for a more powerful blast. As he did, he jumped and swirled in the air, tightly pulling back the arrow.
FWOOSH…
August let the arrow go, it hit the middle of the bulls forehead. Normally, a bull would've been knocked out or dead from this blast but this was a bull beast, if you had five to ten hunters then defeating this beast in a few minutes would be possible, but it was one man fighting a beast.
August smirked and shot a few more arrows landing on the beast's heart, feet, and back.
This should slow it down. August thought, he wiped sweat off of his forehead. The hunters and cultivators were still watching without a word, Jin hid behind them.
August had just a bit of mana left to use his sword, he pulled it out from his waist, brandishing his sword. He ran forward towards the bull, slicing one of the horns off. He leaned and jumped forward causing scarring on the bulls back, slicing it into a bloody mess.
The bull roared, huffing louder, it turned towards August running forth. But it was a second too late, August jumped high into the air, lifting his sword above him, then falling down, stabbing right in the middle of the bulls head. By then, the bull was dead, blood poured everywhere staining the sand.
It was a good battle for the trainees to see how to fight off a creature like this.
August thought he'd get cheering from the crowd but instead they yelled, "Ruining our training are ya?! This is our battle field, not yours to stain with blood!" A man twice the size of August, bulky with a strained face. He wore a regular old white shirt with brown pants, black hair fading into brown tied in a high ponytail.
The crowd started to complain, August wore a frown just as he said this, "Isn't this hunting field public, free for anyone to use? Why are you complaining that I killed a beast on a hunting field? Just cause I caused a bit of a racket doesn't mean you should start arguing against me." August complained to the crowd, letting out a shrug.
The crowd grew silent, the bulky man looked back and started saying more nonsense, "Well..You-...I.." he stuttered.
"You what?" August crossed his arms.
Jin popped out of the crowd, swiftly grabbing August's arm and running back into the town.
"Hey! Jin, What are we running for?! I wasn't done knocking sense in their brains!" August complained, being dragged by Jin.
"I'm saving you before you cause any more havoc! We're heading back to the palace," Jin steadily said.
As they ran through the cluttered, crowded streets filled with merchants, it was a grand and majestic structure, adorned with intricate carvings of marble and gold. It was surrounded by a beautiful garden with many different types of herbs and flowers, this was the Zinnia Empire.