"You know something I just realized? Our names are all the same letters, just spelled differently. Now isn't that a conundrum? Seeing as I don't particularly want to kill someone who has the same name as me," Aitken said, his hand slicing rapidly through the air.
Blood pins shot toward Itekan, who countered with writhing shadow tentacles to block them. The two maintained locked eye contact as they unleashed attacks on one another.
Then Itekan moved.
Aitken's eyes narrowed, mildly surprised that Itekan had taken the initiative. Just as Itekan's fist closed in for a punch, Aitken's natural defense triggered—blood coagulated swiftly around Itekan's feet, rooting him in place.
Bam!
A high-velocity compressed blood pin struck Itekan point-blank. He crumpled almost instantly, unconscious, a gaping wound torn open on his forehead, exposing his brain. Blood and shattered tissue spilled messily onto the ground.
"Dead? Already? Guess I overestimated you," Aitken muttered. He turned away and, with a casual flick of his wrist, the blood around Itekan's feet dragged the body behind him.
"Wasn't supposed to kill you, but I guess we'll just use you like this," Aitken muttered under his breath.
"Who said I was dead?"
Itekan's voice rasped, hoarse and emotionless.
He was standing. The hole in his skull, where blood and grey matter had once poured from, remained grotesquely open—but his shadow spirit pulsed actively, repairing his brain tissue before it could fully shut down.
In his fifteen years, Aitken had seen many unnatural things—but this chilled him to his core. Itekan had been clinically dead seconds ago, and yet his shadow spirit had begun restoring his brain at impossible speed, all while Itekan's sheer willpower kept him tethered to life.
"Ah... I see now. The only way to kill you is to separate you from that shadow," Aitken murmured, a smile creeping onto his face. His hands danced erratically through the air, and his blood responded, flinging Itekan upward before slamming him into the ground with a force that cracked the earth, sending dust and debris flying.
Itekan stood again, blood running down his broken arm, mixing with Aitken's in the chaotic battlefield. His eyes were hollow, light bending unnaturally into them—a void of shadows. Suddenly, shadows erupted from his body, coating him entirely as he assumed his shadow form.
No chant was needed.
"Shadow's Hand: Shadow Domain," Itekan intoned.
Four massive shadow tentacles erupted outward in all directions. They stopped about 20 meters away and arched upwards, growing to 20 meters high, intertwining to form a dome of shadow tentacles that sealed off the area, enclosing both combatants inside a vast, pulsating shadow structure.
Itekan thrust his hand forward. A whip of shadow tentacles lashed out at near-supersonic speed, smashing into Aitken's blood shield.
Aitken reacted instantly. Blood coated his feet like gliders, propelling him toward Itekan as a blur. His blood pins hovered beside him, shooting forward—but Itekan effortlessly tilted his head, dodging the deadly projectiles.
Itekan's cold gaze met Aitken's. The latter soared through the air, his leg swinging in a sharp roundhouse kick. Itekan caught it cleanly. Twisting mid-air, Aitken slammed his other leg into Itekan's face.
Boom!
Itekan didn't budge.
A slight smile tugged at his lips. Shadow daggers materialized beside him and drilled into Aitken's leg.
"Damn!" Aitken cursed as he retreated, gritting his teeth. The dagger had moved too fast for his blood to harden in defense.
He yanked it free and rose to his feet, grimacing.
There's a problem here, he thought, gliding backwards. Ever since he activated that Shadow Domain, his speed and durability have tripled.
Suddenly, Itekan vanished.
He reappeared behind Aitken, his dagger sweeping toward his neck. Aitken, wide-eyed, barely managed to pull up a blood shield, deflecting the strike.
"Tsk! You're actually dangerous!" Aitken spat, landing a few meters away. His hand reached for the blood-red ring on his left hand.
His limiter.
He had used it to deceive the instructors into thinking he was just an ordinary trainee. When removed, the amount of blood his body could produce was staggering. The human body is roughly 75% liquid, and Aitken's unique ability allowed him to convert nearly all of it into blood passively. To survive, he consumed enormous quantities of fluids daily.
The ring not only suppressed this conversion rate—it also limited his total Spiritual Energy (SE), making him appear to be a mere fourth-ring cultivator.
As he tore off the ring, a massive surge of unrestrained SE exploded outward. The overwhelming energy cracked the boundaries of the Shadow Domain, splintering the dark dome under the pressure of the purer, exponentially denser SE.
Itekan felt a chill ripple through him as the surge shattered his domain.
"Itekan! Get ready—you just unleashed a monster!" Aitken roared, stepping forward.
---
Elsewhere…
"They abandoned us!" Avery gasped. A chill swept down his spine, and his face turned pale with realization.
"Get back! Get back!" he screamed, losing all composure. Dropping his weapon in panic, Avery bolted into the forest. Leaderless, the remaining group descended into chaos.
Kutote, though running low on SE, held his ground. He watched grimly as Avery disappeared into the trees. The others, panicked, scattered in all directions—resulting in more people being struck down by the encroaching beasts.
It was endless. Dark. Hopeless.
Kutote gritted his teeth, cutting down a flame wolf lunging at him.
I didn't expect this… things were going fine. What changed?
He couldn't afford to linger—he'd be surrounded if he stayed. Swiftly, Kutote took to the trees.
He ran like the wind, his movements honed from years of evading assassins. His ability to blend into the environment had kept him alive this long.
But something felt wrong.
Where had the instructors vanished to? Why were these Grade D beasts so much stronger than normal? Unease gnawed at Kutote as he darted through the foliage.
A scream echoed in the distance.
Kutote sprinted toward it. Upon arriving, he saw Flocker facing off against a towering, mutated gorilla with a glowing SE core embedded in its forehead. The beast's gaping maw lunged for Flocker's arm.
Kutote moved, but not fast enough.
"ARGH!"
A scream of pure agony tore through the air as Flocker's eyes glazed over. His shrieks soon faded.
Kutote's hands ignited with golden flames—Resendo. A spell he had copied and perfected. The original version had two limitations: it required a chant, and it drained SE too quickly. Kutote had eliminated both flaws, transforming it into a chantless, efficient spell.
That was the true strength of his red spirit—not just copying techniques, but evolving and refining them.
Spiritual Energy -- SE
Spritual Sea -- SS
Spiritual Signatures -- SST