Klenn and Obi were awake. As Soma was just opening his eyes, he asked, "What is that sound?"
"The Mother of Lightning Bears must have gone mad over the death of her cubs. She's coming this way," said Obi.
"Let's get ready then, it's been a while since we killed a mother bear. Will be a nice warm-up," said Klenn.
Soma's strength was slowly returning, but he wasn't strong enough to fight. "I can finally move," he said.
"Be careful, stay back. We won't be able to help you if something happens to you during the fight," said Klenn.
Soma nodded. The two orphan warriors placed their massive swords on their shoulders and waited side by side. After a while, a horned lightning bear, at least five or six meters tall, emerged from between the trees.
A massive clearing had formed in the middle of the forest. Yesterday's battle and the impending clash would bring great destruction.
"Filthy humans, you will die!" a voice echoed in Soma, Obi, and Klenn's minds.
"Oh ho, so it knows how to communicate. Its meat must be delicious," said Obi.
The lightning bear approached and stood before them. Anger and vengeance were visible on the animal's face. With one roar, lightning struck around it, and the sky became completely covered with clouds.
Obi circled the bear from the right while Klenn came from the left. They attacked its legs simultaneously. The bear's claws missed their target and struck the ground, creating large craters.
Klenn made a superficial cut and slid away. Obi's sword had pierced deeply, but it wasn't enough to sever the massive bear's leg. While trying to pull out his sword, he lost too much time, and the bear turned and struck him with the back of its paw. Obi was thrown and collapsed to the ground. "Obi!" Klenn shouted while dodging an incoming claw.
Obi quickly got to his feet. Blood was flowing from his mouth. He pulled out his dagger from his belt pouch, tensed his muscles, took a deep breath, and lunged forward with incredible speed. Though the bear swung its claw toward his direction, Obi managed to dodge by a hair's breadth. Meanwhile, Klenn charged toward the severely wounded leg. While airborne, his boots allowed him to change direction as if stepping on invisible ground, and he swiftly struck at the leg.
After evading, Obi plunged his dagger into the injured leg. He maneuvered around the leg in a complete circle toward where his sword was and gripped it tightly. Together with Klenn, who was attacking from the front, they inflicted a deep, devastating wound. With the momentum of their attack, the bear's left leg was severed, and the beast lost its balance and crashed to the ground.
The bear was writhing in pain and roaring while lying on its back. Though it tried to stand up again, it failed and started fighting on all fours.
"Now it's easier to kill!" said Obi. He held his sword sideways and signaled to Klenn with his head. Klenn jumped onto the sword and, with Obi's strength combined, leaped higher and landed on the bear's back. As he descended, he made a solid gash in its hide with his sword. Then, using the power of his sword, he pulled himself and his massive blade back, spun around in the air, and delivered an even deeper blow to the same wound, completely piercing through the bear's hide.
Soma was shocked; they could perform incredible maneuvers with such huge swords and were able to cut down a massive monster.
They continued to make cuts on the bear until it was unable to fight back. It had lost too much energy from its wounds and blood loss.
"It used to be so difficult to cut down a monster like this - the difference in experience is huge," said Obi. "Now we can hunt them with ease. We didn't even give it a chance to use its abilities. We've improved well, Klenn."
"Yeah, we're a bit too strong," Klenn replied with a laugh.
Soma was walking towards them. Suddenly, a magnetic field formed around the bear and they found themselves in an area that defied gravity. "Run Soma!" Obi shouted. They immediately turned and started running, but Klenn realized they were too close and wouldn't make it.
"Obi, let's throw each other. Throw me towards Soma!" Klenn shouted. Obi immediately grabbed his sword and threw Klenn. Then he jumped and caught Klenn's hand in mid-air. Klenn used all his strength to throw Obi forward. Obi used the surface of his sword to create friction in the air and slow his descent. Meanwhile, Klenn spun around after throwing Obi, used the power in his boots to quickly lunge towards Soma, grabbed him by the waist and continued moving away. When they reached a hill, they could observe the destruction around them.
"What happened? Why did we run?" asked Soma. Everyone was out of breath.
"Watch carefully, it's not easy to find an energy beast committing suicide," said Obi.
Lightning began striking rapidly where the bear was. Its brown fur turned white and blue. Then electric currents formed from inside out and outside in. A massive circular electrical explosion occurred, reaching far beyond where the bear was.
A huge crater had formed, like one made by a meteor.
"That was close," said Klenn. "Nature is truly merciless. If you don't kill them, they'll do everything they can to kill you."
Obi sat down on the ground. "It would have been nice if we could have eaten its energy core."
"Yeah, but it didn't let us, nothing we can do about that." Klenn also sat down. "Ah, our belongings... Unbelievable, we lost everything again..." Klenn's mood had soured, his face fallen.
"Oh, you mean these bags?" said Soma.
They both stared at Soma with wide eyes. "Ah, you're a great man, wizard Soma! It was hard traveling without money, and we had to do so many missions to get these. You saved our lives." Klenn was looking at Soma with joy.
"Actually, you're the ones who saved my life," said Soma, gazing at the landscape. "Twice," he added.
"Let's rest for a while, then we'll take you home," said Obi. "After that, we need to continue on our way."
Soma was amazed by the friendship Obi and Klenn had formed in such a short time. Watching their coordination and power while fighting was like a visual feast. "I need to become stronger too," he thought. Rikimaru came to his mind; could their friendship ever reach this level? After their last fight, they hadn't even properly looked at or spoken to each other. The fatigue of the last few days weighed on him, and he too sat down to join Obi and Klenn.
As Kamiya was leaving the village, he noticed Rikimaru following him. Instead of proceeding separately, he took him along and they began searching together. They searched all night but couldn't find anything. All they knew was that there had been an explosion in the sky at one point. When they went there, there was nothing. After searching the area a bit more, Kamiya decided to turn back, but suddenly they barely managed to escape when they saw a massive explosion coming towards them.
"Are you alright, Riki?" Kamiya asked worriedly.
"I'm fine, Uncle Kamiya. You?" asked Rikimaru.
Kamiya nodded to indicate there was no problem. "I hope you weren't caught in that explosion... Soma." His gaze was quite empty and he was eating himself up inside.
"Uncle, we'll find him, don't worry. I'm sure he's alive, he's stronger than he appears," said Rikimaru, trying to comfort Kamiya.
They continued searching a bit more. When they came to a clearing through the trees, they heard Soma's voice: "Watching your fight was incredible, how are you so agile with such heavy swords!" His voice was excited and full of energy, though he himself was quite exhausted and tired.
"Soma!" Kamiya shouted and lunged toward them. Obi suddenly drew his sword and swung, but Kamiya jumped with quick reflexes. As he fell, he stepped on the surface of Obi's sword making him lose balance, then jumped over the sword and delivered a solid kick to Obi. Klenn quickly drew his sword and moved to protect Soma by positioning himself in front. Rikimaru came running from behind with two clones.
"Stop!" Soma shouted. Everyone paused and looked at each other. Soma ran to Obi. "Are you okay?" he asked and helped him get up.
Kamiya stepped back with an angry look. "Who are these people, Soma?" he asked.
"Don't worry, father, they helped me," Soma replied in a stern voice.
"Soma! Thank goodness you're alright," all of Rikimaru's clones spoke simultaneously.
"Are these your friends?" Klenn asked.
"Ah, that angry man is my father. And the one with the clones is my friend Rikimaru," said Soma.
Rikimaru hadn't expected these words. He blushed in surprise. "Your friend?" he thought. "You've finally accepted me."
"Yes!" Rikimaru confirmed joyfully.
Kamiya went over to Obi and dusted off his clothes. "Thank you for looking after my son, and I apologize for the kick," he said.
"That was a powerful kick, but it's fine, misunderstandings happen," Obi responded.
"You need to tell me what happened, Soma. What was that explosion? Were they energy bears?" Kamiya asked.
Klenn interrupted: "Some bears were chasing Soma. After we defeated one of them, he fainted. We happened to be passing by and helped him. Then the lightning bear's mother attacked. We defeated her, but she tried to kill us by committing suicide."
Kamiya found Klenn's words strange. "Lightning bear? And what's with that accent?" he thought.
"They're not from around here, father. They came from across the ocean," said Soma.
"Is that so? Then we have much to discuss. Would you like to visit our village?" asked Kamiya.
Obi and Klenn exchanged glances. "We have a mission to complete."
"You can complete your mission later, I won't keep you long. Just stay for today, and I'll provide you with provisions and necessary supplies," Kamiya offered.
It was quite a logical offer for Obi and Klenn. They nodded in agreement. Just as they were about to move, they felt a strong bloodthirst.
Kenshin and Naru appeared on a branch. "So this is where you ran off to, little brat, quite far from home." Kenshin spoke without looking around. When he took another look, he stepped back and signaled Naru to stay ready. "What's this? Monster hunters perhaps? From what I heard from my master, those swords must be quite sturdy."
Obi pointed his sword at Kenshin. "I take it he's not your friend."
"Yes, he's the one trying to kill me. I was running from him in the first place," said Soma. This time he wasn't afraid; not because others were with him, but because he felt strong and had faced his fears. After nearly dying, there wasn't much left to be afraid of.
Obi and Klenn hesitated at first but then nodded to each other. Obi spoke up: "There is a cursed Phoenix. According to legend, a dark wizard cursed the Phoenix before it could be reborn. When the Phoenix was reborn, it was cursed with immortality. Unable to regenerate anymore, it had no choice but to writhe in agony. After staying like that for a long time, the dark sorcerer took its energy core. They say whoever uses this core becomes immortal."
When Obi finished speaking, Klenn continued: "Until now, we thought this was just a legend. It seems that the energy core is in the man you call Kenshin. He's practically immortal unless that core is destroyed."
"How can we destroy it?" asked Rikimaru.
"I think another curse might be able to destroy it, or a powerful sorcerer would need to break it apart," said Klenn.
"What do you mean by sorcerer?" asked Rikimaru.
"Ah, they call warriors who can use their energies sorcerers," said Soma.
Rikimaru nodded, while Kamiya listened carefully. "We really need to talk with you," he said, and they started walking toward the village.
As they walked, Klenn muttered: "I knew it, you enjoy storytelling!"
Obi landed a solid punch on Klenn's shoulder. "No way!" he shouted.
When they reached the village entrance, it was dark. The place was covered in dust and smoke, the entrances were destroyed, and people were screaming in pain...