Mystical Journey

"Are you done resting?" Garen said lightly.

Hu...

Yuria took a deep breath and halted his body's movements. His eyes gleamed with never-before-seen flickers of fighting spirit.

"I'm done."

"Come then," Garen showed a sense of seriousness.

The first time.

For the first time, he placed his left hand on the handle.

It was then that everyone realized that Garen had only been using one arm at the beginning. Just one, right hand to merely push Yuria to breathlessness.

An unyielding pressure was emitted by Garen, mounting Yuria to the point of slight asphyxiation.

"How powerful...!"

He gathered up his energy, no matter if it was the borrowed force from the savior or the newly realized Hydra, he turned all of it to his own.

Puff!

He took a step forward dramatically, before lunging towards Garen.

In that instance, the two wooden blades collided onto one another.

Clang!!!

******

The summer's breeze was warm and the leaves rustled from the wind. The sun rays quavered with the flow.

Golden fragments appeared in sight as though the entire forest turned into a golden ocean with clear ripples.

Yuria lay flat on the ground with open arms in the pit, gasping for fresh air. He couldn't be bothered with the sweat drenching the dirt ground and staining his body. He was exhausted beyond words.

He felt an endless weary sweeping him away.

Yurijie hurried to him, carrying a basin of water and a water bottle. She kneeled by her brother and carefully wiped the sweat and dirt off on Yuria with a towel.

Pat...

Sounds of footsteps drew near and stopped by Yuria.

It was Garen.

With complicated feelings, he looked at Yuria on the ground. The wooden blade in his hand was broken in half and only the lower half was held.

"I… Is that considered…a pass?" Yuria asked breathlessly.

Garen was silent for a moment before closing his eyes in contemplation.

"You're still far from that."

He answered in a low voice.

"Oh..."

Yuria smiled bitterly.

"But this time, you passed..." Garen suddenly turned and walked away. The remaining half of the wooden blade was stocked on his shoulder. He did not even notice Yuria and his sister sharing a smile of joy and excitement behind him.

Nine-Tailed Fox jumped into the pit agilely and walked towards Garen.

"How proud. You're really dead set on keeping your pride."

Nine-Tailed Fox whispered in glee as they crossed by.

"Say whatever you want to," Garen wasn't in the best of moods. "Your time is up next."

"Of course," Nine-Tailed Fox nodded and treaded lightly towards Yuria.

"See what you did, starting at such a high point. Don't you know it'll be hard for me to teach you?" She walked towards the siblings and looked at both their puzzled faces.

"Alright, your Head Minister had handed you over to me. I will be guiding you on far-ranged attack training," Nine-Tailed Fox gave a sneaky smile.

******

One day later...

After resting for a whole day, Yuria and his sister were brought to an empty basement by Nine-Tailed Fox.

The four walls of the basement were of a black metal surface. There were tiny traces of bumps and hollows all over the walls. It was unknown what was the place used for.

There was only one entrance and the door was a three-meter thick, heavy metal conveyor.

The sibling duo wore bullet-proof vests and stood in the center of the basement. Each of them was holding a high-power gun. They both had a dull and absent look on their faces. It seemed that they didn't think Nine-Tailed Fox, a young lady who looked like a student, would fiddle with such a horrifying, killing weapon.

They had labeled Garen and Nine-Tailed Fox as mysterious students and these impressions were crushed so badly by these two guns.

Nine-Tailed Fox stood opposite them with her back against the wall. She was wearing a black, tight suit that outlined her bosom and lower half body finely. The sort of sexy, tight outfit that sent little student blushing.

Both Garen and Kong Xinxue stood and watched by the side.

"And now," Nine-Tailed Fox spoke gently, "I will train you on how to react to an intensive quick-range attack. Base on the opponent you described, he seems to be fitting to this style."

"Mm," Yuria focused his mind and nodded solemnly. "Yes, large-scale magnetic pins attack. He would first lay down a large number of pins so that he could draw them to attack anytime."

"Then it'll be easy," Nine-Tailed Fox smiled. "What you need is how to avoid this sort of quick and mass attack, how to find out a way out from the storm."

"So what should I do?" Yuria was earnest to learn.

"What should you do?" Nine-Tailed Fox lifted the gun in her hands. Her smile became eerie.

Seeing the gun in her hands, the sibling duo suddenly thought of a discouraging possibility.

"Don't tell me..." The duo's faces darkened.

Bang!!

The gun fired.

"As expected!!!!" They turned as pale as ghosts. No wonder they were required to wear bullet-proof vests. Firing a high-power gun in a secret lair with highly reflective metal walls was plain murder!!

"Hehe, you guessed it right!" Nine-Tailed Fox beamed, revealing her small, canine teeth. "Too bad there are no prizes for that."

Ding Ding... Clang!

The bullet ricocheted in the basement. Its trajectory was too fast to be captured by the eye, only ricocheting shots could be heard and the marks of golden fiery sparks were seen scattered on the walls and ground.

The sibling duo crouched down with their hands over their head, laying flat on the ground. They didn't dare move an inch. Their faces were distorted with fright.

Clang!

A ricochet bullet landed on the floor not more than half a meter away from them.

Ah!!!!

The duo screamed out of fear. Their faces were pale as they hugged each other tightly.

Standing by the side, Garden was speechless at the sight of both of them.

"I was still envious of this young fellow. I spent quite a long time to realize the realm yet this guy caught up using some mess of an ability. But now it seems..." He shook his head helplessly as he sighed.

Kong Xinxue also went pale. She retreated discreetly behind Garen in an attempt to use him as a shield. Ricocheting bullet has aimless targets. Whoever was hit only had bad luck to blame.

"You maniacs, can't you give a warning before opening fire."

"Scared?" Garen looked at her teasingly.

"No!"

Kong Xinxue would never admit that. Suddenly, she saw the change in Garen's face as he looked at the wall behind her.

"Careful!"

He shouted.

Ah!!!

Kong Xinxue rushing into Garen's embrace as she gave a blood-curdling scream.

"Hahaha!!" It was when she heard Garen's guffaws that she realized she was fooled.

"You!!" She immediately broke away, wanting to curse.

Swoosh!!

Out of a sudden, a flash of silver appeared between them.

Garen nonchalantly sheathed his long blade into its scabbard.

A black bullet was slashed in half and dropped by their feet with a clang.

Kong Xinxue was startled. The chill in that instance and seeing the flickering silver light, she thought that Garen was raising his blade at her. She would never forget that undismissable sense of suppression.

"What a saber technique!" Nine-Tailed Fox clapped. "But our Ah Xue seemed to be frightened off her wits," she teased.

"You're the one scared off your wits!!" Kong Xinxue has actually never experienced such random, dangerous combat world in the past few worlds. It has been a peaceful journey for her. Although she knew Nine-Tailed Fox back then, she knew they were different from her but she did not take it to heart. This time was different. Having witnessed first hand of that saber art, she felt fear.

"Head Minister... Are you sure you're human!?"

Yuria got up in disbelief.

Yurijie nodded with force. If it weren't for her seeing it with her own eyes, it would be hard to imagine a human being taking down a bullet with a cold weapon. Even if the bullet ricocheted a few times, causing the speed to decrease, it was trajectory that could be caught by the naked eye.

Garen smiled.

"Focus your mind on it. After the first ricochet, the bullet isn't as hard to catch anymore."

"Yes," Nine-Tailed Fox clapped. "Now you two fire at me. Don't worry, I have changed the bullet to a special kind. Those that are hit will not die. At most it will cause this huge of a wound," She gestured circles about the size of a knuckle.

"This is what you call a special bullet?!! What difference is this from an explosive bullet!?" Yuria was absolutely terrified. "No... This is not considered a bullet anymore? This is a cannon..."

"I'm sure it's not a cannon," Nine-Tailed Fox could guess what he was trying to convey. "So, to avoid death and to protect your sister, young man, bring your strongest instinct to full play!" She gave a thumbs up, "do your best!"

"Do your best my ass!" Yuria wanted to scream but Nine-Tailed Fox did not provide him the chance. She held her hand up to the ceiling and fired the gun again.

Bang!

The bullet started ricocheting.

Bang bang bang bang bang!!

This time it wasn't just one bullet. Nine-Tailed Fox knew they both of them were unwilling to open fire so she blew six shots continuously, finishing a round and tossed the gun aside.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh!

Four of the ricocheting shots rebounded towards her.

A white ribbon appeared in her hand. Nine-Tailed Fox agilely made a turn and dodge the bullet at ease like an acrobat dancing on the tip of a sword. The white ribbon fluttered gently as though she was presenting a beautiful dance.

The sibling duo watched with eyes wide open.

Garen paid close attention to Nine-Tailed Fox's movements.

"Awesome... Her speed has already surpassed that of human..."

"She once said that although her demonic arts couldn't be used, the monstrous body attribute has left behind some superhuman abilities such as this speed," Kong Xinxue said in a low voice. After that blade-slash by Garen, she has calmed herself down. Although she was still nervous, she was not as afraid as before.

"Oh, really?" Garen fell deep into his thoughts.