"What happened? Where am I?" Kyle got up from a bed as he observed the room he stayed in.
Scenes of what happened began to ravage his mind. "Ohh! Now I remember, I probably fell unconscious. This should be my room"
The door creaked open as Riya entered the room. "You're awake? It's been just an hour!" Coming closer she asked, "What exactly happened out there?"
"I'm as curious as you are," Kyle replied.
"Hmm, my mum wants to see you, she was so worried when I brought you to her. But first, you stink so take a bath, I already kept some water for you to use in the bathroom," Riya said before leaving the room.
Kyle waited for her to leave the room before sniffling himself. "She's right; I smell horrible."
Entering into the bathroom, though not as equipped as his own at Yurigur. It still had all the essentials; a bar of soap, a sponge, and a pail filled with water.
After spending 15 minutes in the bathroom, making sure to appear spotless. Kyle left the bathroom.
"I have no extra clothes! Would I really wear back these dirty ones? I should get some clothes," Kyle said with a wry smile.
Kyle made sure to head to Grace's room after refreshing.
"Excuse me, ma'am, It's Kyle," Kyle said while knocking on Grace's room.
"Come in," Grace said from inside.
Grace sat at the center of the room in a lotus position, cultivating. "Have a sit Kyle," Grace said, pointing at the sole chair in the room.
"I heard from Riya about what happened. Is it by any means related to Yurigur or Qi?"
"No ma'am, I haven't experienced something like this before today," Kyle explained.
"Okay. Can you repeat what you did before?" Grace asked.
"I'm not sure, but I can try," Kyle admitted.
"Sure, but not now. You'll do so after eating, Riya is preparing dinner. You can leave, Kyle" Grace said as she went back to her cultivation.
'I'll find Riya, so I can help her out with the cooking!'
"Can I help you out?" Kyle asked Riya after finding her in the kitchen.
"Why not? Can you cook?" Riya asked Kyle with surprise.
"Of course! How then did I survive 6 months in the wild?" Kyle answered with pride.
"Congrats on your win! How were you able to release such power?" Riya asked, breaking the silence.
"I do not know, I'll try to see if I can do it again after dinner," Kyle replied.
"You said something before your slash. Didn't it have anything to do with it?" Riya questioned.
"I'm very sure it didn't, I just said 'shatter'. It's a way of adding conviction to your attack." Kyle replied with a chuckle.
"We'll see if you can repeat the feat then," Riya said to Kyle while continuing her cooking.
"Sure," Kyle replied, already helping her out with the cooking.
After dinner was ready, they all ate to their satisfaction. Kyle was surprised at how nutritious the meat tasted.
'If the tier 0 meat already tastes this good, I can't help but wonder what the tier 1 meat tastes like,' he couldn't help to lick his lips as he thought.
"I see you enjoyed your meal, Kyle," Grace asked with a smile.
"Yes ma'am, the meal was nice. Great job, Riya!" Kyle replied with a grin.
"When you've digested your food, you come to the backyard, let's analyze your attack," Grace reminded him before going outside.
"Okay, ma'am!" Kyle replied with enthusiasm.
After Kyle was done eating, he came outside to see Grace and Riya receiving the moonlight "I'm ready ma'am," Kyle said.
"SLASH!!!" Kyle screamed out but was shocked to see no results.
"Riya, shoot him your arrows, make sure to not alert him," Grace instructed Riya.
Riya nodded her head in agreement with Grace's instructions, nocking 5 arrows at once as she did before!
Kyle on noticing the arrows didn't bother to dodge, raising his sword at the arrows,
"SHATTER!!!"
It was already too late for him to dodge, as he stood firm awaiting the attack. Grace upon seeing no change whatsoever flicked her fingers making the arrows disintegrate with dark magic, centimeters before impacting Kyle.
"Maybe it was a one-time stuff, but don't give up Kyle keep on practicing your sword maybe you'll be able to wield that power soon. But when you do, make sure to tell no one until you're strong enough," Grace said.
"Thank you, ma'am!…" Kyle said to Grace but was immediately cut off by Riya.
"I deserve a thank you at least! Do you know how hard it was to pull off that shot yet I did it twice today," Riya ranted.
"Sorry Riya, thanks to you too!" Kyle said with a slight smile. 'She looks cute when angry!'
"Good night! I'm going to sleep," Grace said already going inside.
Riya followed before Kyle finally went inside to sleep.
Kyle woke up to see the day was already bright, he quickly did some push-ups. This has become a habit of his, this weak body of his could only perform 30 when strained, at Yurigur he could do push-ups for hours but he made doing a 100 every morning a routine!
"Good morning ma'am!" Kyle greeted Grace who was at the dining.
"Kyle, you're up. How was your night?" Grace asked with a cheerful smile.
"It was splendid ma'am!" Kyle replied with a smile.
Soon enough, Riya arrived with breakfast. As they ate Riya asked Grace, "Mum can me and Kyle go to the forest to train? That would be a nice place for Kyle to practice that power."
"No," Grace replied, still enjoying her meal.
"But you said I could go if I had company?" Riya asked, this time pouting her lips.
"And I also said you were grounded," Grace added.
"Ma'am, please I would also like to visit the forest and also purchase some clothes. Please let Riya off this one time," Kyle said, joining in on the conversation.
"I'll allow the two of you to go, but only because of Kyle. Be safe out there!" Grace warned, finally giving in.
"Thanks, ma'am!" Kyle said with a smile.
"You can set out once you're done having your food," Grace reminded them.
Kyle and Grace quickly finished having their meals, after which they got ready to depart. Grace gave Kyle 20 silver coins before they left who after much 'persuasion' accepted.
"We're back in here again! Feels like it was just yesterday," Kyle said to Riya as they entered the forest.
"How do you usually practice?" Kyle asked Riya.
"I normally hone my archery skills by attempting to get a fruit with an arrow without damaging the fruit," Riya replied.
"I'll teach you some basic training exercises, it'll help in your muscle development," Kyle told Riya after which he taught her to do a press-up. After which they repeated their last training exercise, in hopes for Kyle to summon the 'white line' again.
"Is it possible for us to hunt in this forest?" Kyle asked after seeing no results in training.
"Do not say something like that again... Because if we encounter even a tier 0 beast we're screwed. How do you expect us to fight beasts without magic? These puny arrows can't even scratch a mana beast." Riya scolded, reacting to Kyle's question.
"Sorry! Back at Yurigur, I slayed over a hundred Qi beasts." Kyle said with pride.
"Really!" Riya replied with a sarcastic smile.
"I'm serious, whatever," Kyle gave up trying to convince her.
"Stop acting like..."
Growl.
Riya immediately stopped speaking when she heard the sound. It was already too late to dodge, as the feline beast had already pounced at her.
"Ah..." Riya's scream was interrupted when Kyle who saw the beast, shoved her away from its path.
The beast missing its pounce, got angry as it rose from the ground, getting ready for another.
"That is a... Ma..na beast!" Riya managed to say, with a frightened look.
Kyle sized up the creature, it looked strong, really strong, he felt he could defeat it, with his former body, that is. "Riya! Let's leave here now!" Kyle screamed anxiously.
Riya upon coming to terms with the current situation, immediately got up to flee. Unfortunately for them, the beast was poised at their escape path.
Kyle and Riya didn't need a moment to think before quickly deciding to flee in the opposite direction.
The beast which was just a couple of meters away from them didn't leave them be, of course. It only took some seconds to quickly realize their plan after which it strider towards them.
"Riya!! Let's separate; that would increase our chances." Kyle said.
Riya immediately nodded, not bothering to reply. She dropped her bow and ran towards the west, Kyle decided to flee east, after confirming Riya's decision.
The beast was confused by their actions, buying them some more seconds, before it decided to pursue Kyle.
'This damn beast chose me after all! Not that I'd have wanted it to chase Riya, would I?' Kyle had a wry smile as he thought.
'How long have I been sprinting for? This cat seems to be toying with me; it doesn't seem to be exhausted. Kyle cried inwardly, slightly turning his head to observe the cat.
Focusing his eyes ahead, Kyle observed a Bear, that seemed asleep, though already showing signs of getting up.
'I'm screwed!'