“Finally, you bring me something that isn’t utter bullshit. The balance is good but the edge is a bit too dull. And who might you be?”

The beautiful woman with a fiery-red mane asked as she turned around to face the pair who had entered the Testing Hall. The man behind her, who was sweating bullets, hurriedly muttered some form of greeting before sneakily making an exit.

“I believe you are Miss Kazumi? You have quite the reputation.”

The taller of the pair commented as he observed the pockmarked walls of the Testing Hall. The young man beside him was instead looking around at the various devices in the room in awe.

“Are all of these just for testing daggers?”

“Yes, I’m Kazumi and yes, those are all testing equipment. Enough nice words, what the fuck do you want? Hurry up while I’m still in a good mood.”

“Ah of course, you’re busy and your time is precious. We were just wondering if you perhaps knew where we could find a ragged man accompanied by a young girl. We hear that they’re relatives of yours and they likely came to visit you when they arrived in the city.”

Kazumi blinked once. She remembered Tetsuya mentioning that him and the loli were in some kind of trouble but she didn’t expect anyone to come so soon.

“Sorry to disappoint but I have no fucking clue who you’re talking about. So, if you don’t mind, I need to go back to making sure these damn smiths aren’t fucking up our city’s reputation with their garbage.”

“Miss Kazumi…it would have been wiser if you told us the truth.”

“I told you. I don’t know who the f-”

Toc. CRRRRRRRRACK.

Kazumi leapt backwards as the ground of the Testing Hall was rent asunder with deep crevices that ruptured, launching massive chunks of earth into the air. At its untouched epicentre, like the eye of the storm, was the tall man who had tapped his walking stick and the boy beside him.

“Good reactions. Your Life Energy cultivation must be fairly decent. Hideyoshi, you may want to watch from the entrance.”

“What the fuck would you know? Haaa!”

Like a flaming comet, Kazumi pushed hard off the floor, her feet no longer touching the ground as she soared across it, a rippling, red aura surrounding her as she focused on the enemy before her, her fist glowing white as she concentrated her energy. The tall man calmly raised his walking stick and held it horizontally with both hands. Blue energy swirled at his feet before rising and enveloping him in a sphere.

Kazumi’s eyes narrowed. That was no ordinary Barrier-type Skill. The way the energy swirled around him and reflected the light was just like water.

'Fuck, I hate playing around elements.'

Kazumi didn’t hesitate, instead increasing her speed even further before punching straight at the barrier, her glowing fist distorting the air with the heat it radiated.

However, her fist never hit the barrier.

SHOOOM!

Kazumi’s fist released a shockwave that blasted away a large amount of the water-like energy leaving gaping holes in the swirling barrier as she stopped just in front of it. The tall man’s face registered slight surprise as Kazumi’s other fist, while not glowing like the first one, smashed through the weakened barrier and sent him sliding back several meters.

“Against water that thin, air wins.”

The tall man grimaced slightly as he lowered his slightly-steaming staff which he'd used to block.

“Your understanding of elements appears to be quite comprehensive.”

“Enough shit-talking, old man. Now get the fuck out.”

“Unfortunately, even if you know nothing, it’s possible they may come back here. With you, we may be able to convince them to do so sooner.”

As he finished, he twirled his staff twice in front of him before banging it down on the ground, a strong gust blowing past him as his pupils flashed gold. Translucent blue energy flooded out from the bottom of his staff forming streams of energy that peeled off the floor before shooting towards Kazumi in twisting, convoluted patterns.

“Tch.”

Kazumi hissed as her skin darkened from its jade-white to a pale pink. She pushed off the ground, leaving a blast of earth in her wake, her body blurring to the point that she was just a flash of red, to meet the energy streams head-on. With a sudden tap of her foot, she shot laterally to the direction of the streams. However…

‘Shit.’

As if predicting her movements, the blue streams of energy turned sharply as they raced through the air, following her without missing a beat. During this time, the tall man didn’t stay idle. With sweat running down his brow, he held his staff in one hand with his eyes closed.

“Remember, Hideyoshi, if an enemy’s speed surpasses your own, or if you feel that your senses aren’t to be believed, then trust in your Soul Sense. It sees far more than eyes do.”

While speaking, the man’s staff was constantly pointed towards Kazumi despite her erratic movements as she desperately tried to avoid the energy streams that seemed determined to catch her.

Her speed was greater than them and, although her stamina was many times greater than ordinary people due to her high Life Energy cultivation, the only way she could maintain this level of speed was due to Overdrive.

If you had to compare the potency of her Overdrive to the one Kira's brother, Kagetsuna, had used in the bamboo forest, you wouldn't even think it was the same ability. That was the level which Kazumi had reached. Consequenltly, it was rapidly consuming her stored energy.

Also, how could she not notice the pressure rising from the tall man as he stood pointing his staff at her. Deciding to take a calculated risk, she instead rushed straight at him, ignoring the streams of blue energy chasing close behind her.

However, this was all within the tall man’s calculations. When Kazumi was but a few metres away from him, he stabbed forward with his staff, a bolt of piercing white energy shooting forward. Showing her extraordinary flexibility and reaction time, boosted by her Overdrive, Kazumi actually managed to avoid the bolt of energy by twisting her hips as she stepped to the side, coming at him from a different angle.

Unfortunately, that slight movement was enough to slow her down just enough for one of the blue energy streams to catch the edge of her ankle. In that moment, she felt as if the strength had completely left her leg from the knee down as the stream wound itself around her ankle like a tendril. Moving at such a speed, the sudden loss of feeling caused her to tumble violently as the remainder of the streams attached themselves to her.

Kazumi had taken the risk of going in close as she was certain that the homing energy streams were a damaging ability and, if she got in close, he would definitely use a control Skill to set her up for the streams while defending himself.

In reality, both the energy streams and the bolt of white energy the tall man had shot out were high-potency Control Skills which left him rather breathless. The blue streaks were a Special-ranked Skill known as Relentless Binding which, once released on a visible target, would track the unique Soul Energy signature of the target until it hit, stagnating both energy and blood flow for several seconds.

The white bolt of energy was another Special Skill, Hunter’s Life Devouring Bolt. Although it was originally a bow Skill, the tall man had spent many years researching into adapting it into a staff Skill so that he could use it. Its effect: Fires an immensely fast bolt of energy that, if it hits, paralyses the body while continuously draining its Life Energy, making it an ideal tool for hunting Soulstone Beasts, especially those that rely mostly on their physical attributes. Of course, this also made it particularly strong against Life Energy-focused cultivators. If Kazumi hadn’t dodged it, she wouldn’t have been able to continue fighting.

Using two Special-ranked Skills after each other definitely took its toll on the tall man as the Relentless Binding and Hunter’s Life Devouring Bolt were middle-level- and high-level Special Skills respectively. To someone like him who had just reached the Spirit Projector rank, this was still a huge drain on his Soul Energy reserves.

Now that he had finally been able to bind Kazumi, it was time for him to actually make use of his advantage. He twirled the staff behind him before actually running forward, his staff beginning to glow with a dull blue light. This was his style of fighting, controlling the enemy from afar before moving in close for the kill.

From a technical standpoint, the longer the range of a Skill, the more energy was required for the same effect across that distance. In other words, for the same amount of energy, a melee-ranged Skill could be far more devastating than a longer-ranged one. Especially now that his Soul Energy was somewhat depleted, it was imperative that he ended this fight quickly.

Staff in hand, he leapt into the air and, with Kazumi below him, gripped the staff tightly with both hands before landing heavily on her and thrusting the staff into her abdomen. At the same time, his Skill, Dissonance Strike, released, blasting through Kazumi with a shockwave of energy that shook the domed building and caused her to violently cough up a large mouthful of blood. Knowing that his Control Skill's duration was about to end soon, he quickly backed off again.

Dissonance Strike: a low-level Special Skill; when it hits, fires a shockwave that disrupts the target’s Soul Energy, damaging internal organs and Soul Paths, greatly restricting Soul Energy and preventing Skill use for a limited time; if it hits the Core directly, has a chance to damage it, actually reducing the target's cultivation; a truly disgusting Skill whose only downside is that its effect had a chance to rebound on its user if countered.

Breathing heavily, the tall man’s face revealed complete and utter shock as Kazumi slowly climbed back to her feet. Spitting out another glob of blood, she stood up straight as red sparks flickered all over her body, focusing on her abdominal area. At first she was shaky, but then she slowly and calmly took up her stance.

“That was fucking dirty. I think you almost knocked me back down to the Foundation Stage. You’re about to regret not killing me with that perfect chance.”

You couldn’t blame the man for underestimating Kazumi as he had actually put all his physical strength into the attack as well as believing that the shock to her system from his Dissonance Strike would be enough to prevent her from fighting further. However, as Kazumi’s Life Energy wasn’t restricted, she still had a great resilience to physical blows. On top of that, with the Life Energy ability of Accel Heal, she’d repaired her damaged internal organs at least.

Apart from this, things weren’t looking good for her. Although her Core was still intact, she could feel that with it in the cracked state it was now due to the Dissonance Strike, the slightest stress could cause it to break open, releasing all that stored liquid Soul Energy within. Energy that pure when running unchecked would cause massive damage to her body. Even if she survived this fight, there was no way that she knew of to fix a cracked Core. Rather than live in fear of dying at any point, she steeled her resolve as her red aura showed itself once more.

The originally smoothly-flowing, lively red energy around Kazumi flared violently in stark contrast to the sudden change in her presence. Where before she was eccentric to the point of being wild and unpredictable, it appeared as if all her stray thoughts were focused on a single point, giving her a calmness that neither Tetsuya nor anyone else would have seen on her before. The red energy reached into the air as a roaring sound echoed throughout the domed room. That red energy actually severed itself from Kazumi’s body, taking the shape of majestic red dragon that soared through the air, circling above her. Kazumi advanced rapidly, her palms shining with a golden-red light.

What Kazumi was using was actually a Skill. In that moment, knowing full well that she was still under the influence of the Dissonance Strike’s Soul Energy-restricting effect, she forcibly smashed open her Core with her Life Energy and used it to enclose the liquid Soul Energy before compressing them together into a concentrated mass of Quintessence that was bigger than anything she'd ever used before.

If the tall man knew one thing, it was that he couldn’t let whatever Skill Kazumi was using hit him, even if he had to expend all of his remaining Twin Energies to stop her. Resting his staff horizontally on his thumbs, the man formed a focusing seal in front of his chest as a bright blue light began to shine from it. With a burst of blue light, an ethereal owl exploded from his chest.

Of course, it was no ordinary owl. It was a translucent, crystalline blue and radiated an intense pressure that matched that of the red dragon, preventing the tall man from being crushed by the dragon’s presence alone and guarding him from its burning heat. This was his Spirit Projection, the Abyss-Eyed Owl. Attached to the owl’s leg was an almost-invisible blue line that connected it to the man’s abdomen.

However, its most important feature was its one eye that give it its namesake. If you looked closely you would notice that it was a marbled, swirling, deep blue that was different from the crystalline energy around it. It gave you the feeling of staring into a bottomless abyss that would consume your soul if you stared long enough.

Without enough time or energy to cast another Hunter’s Life Devouring Bolt on Kazumi, the man instead sent the owl ahead of him as he melded his Twin Energies, once again calling up that Aqua Barrier. Only, this time, it surrounded both him and the owl. As he did so, he activated his Projection Skill, Abyssal Devouring. The eye of the owl shone with blue light as a blue vortex materialised in front of it. This Skill of the owl’s eye would devour the Soul Energy component of any Skill it its path, nullifying it and restoring its owner’s Soul Energy. The reason he didn’t use this Skill earlier was because he knew that she could defeat him using her Life Energy alone.

When the two energy beasts met, unexpectedly, the dragon passed right through the vortex and the owl, unfazed. It was then that the tall man realised his mistake.

While the dragon itself may have seemed threatening and while it radiated an immense presence, it in itself wasn’t the actual Skill or ability. In truth, it was only an image, a representation of Kazumi’s power that happened to take an independent form. The true power of the Skill was contained within Kazumi herself. This thought caused a cold sweat to run like a river down the man’s back as he recalled the owl to intercept Kazumi as fast as he could. As he didn’t have the time to prepare any more defensive Skills, bringing the crystalline owl, which was still using Abyssal Devouring, in front of him was the best he could manage.

The man couldn’t be blamed for making this mistake. Only Skills of the Unique rank or higher would be able to produce an image with the same kind of intense, burning aura like that given off by the red dragon, strong enough to match the pressure of a Spirit Projection. He had figured out since the start of the fight that Kazumi was a Life Energy-focused cultivator and he didn’t believe that any single Skill she could use would be above the Advanced rank. On top of that, the red dragon’s aura detracted from Kazumi herself who had seemed as if she drawing on the last dregs of her Twin Energies to assist the dragon to hit its target.

“HAAAAAA!”

As Kazumi's fist flew through the air, that very same red dragon roared as it swooped down into her fist, being completely absorbed into it and leaving a circular, red pattern hovering above it.

‘Divine Dragon Fang Seal!’

Kazumi shouted mentally as her fist smashed towards the tall man at a speed too fast for him to dodge.

Abyss-Eyed Owl’s Abyssal Devouring and Aqua Barrier, Abyss-Eyed Owl, the tall man’s Aqua Barrier and staff; all of these melted away before her fist as she punched straight through to his chest, burning knuckle-shaped marks into his chest while that floating circular pattern expanded massively in mid-air before imprinting itself onto the man’s chest as he was explosively blasted out of the Testing Hall and down the stairs.

The Divine Dragon Fang Seal, a Skill passed down in Kazumi’s clan that was definitely unique among Unique Skills. For a start, it could be learned and used by anyone who had even a shred of Soul Energy in their bodies all the way up to peak level cultivators. This was because, unlike most other Skills which had a fixed strength and cost, the Divine Dragon Fang Seal’s strength scaled upwards with its user’s Life Energy. Consequently, when used, it had a huge cost, namely, it consumed all of the user’s remaining Life Energy. Apart from the body paralysis caused by the lack of Life Energy, even if you somehow managed to move, not having Life Energy meant that you couldn’t use Skills either. It was truly a kill or be killed technique.

As to how Kazumi could use it without first drawing the Soul Energy through the Soul Paths, it didnt have this requirement as it was purely driven by Life Energy. From this alone, it could be seen that Unique Skills were truly in a different realm to those Skills ranked below them.

“Master!”

Hideyoshi stood at the entranceway, frozen. Soon enough his conflicting emotions of concern and anger decided on a victor and he rushed outside to check on his master.

Kazumi stood there, using pure force of will to stay on her feet. She didn’t want to die lying on her back. Kazumi knew her strength well enough and, although it seemed like she landed a one-hit kill, she herself could tell it wasn't. Having to burn through all of the man’s defences, especially the Abyssal Devouring which had considerably weakened her Skill, even with her massive amount of Life Energy, she knew it was enough to prevent the attack from being lethal. This meant that all she could do at this point was wait for death.

From outside the building, the young man, Hideyoshi, returned from his Master’s side with reddened eyes. His master was alive but just barely. While he would make it if Hideyoshi took him for treatment soon, Hideyoshi still had unresolved anger in his heart as he walked back inside with reddened eyes, his killing intent almost tangible.

In the blind rage that he was, he didn’t see Kazumi as a person, didn’t see her beauty, only saw the person who’d gravely injured his master, the person he owed everything to. Drawing his twin daggers, a wild wind rose around him and his pupils flashed gold as he threw the daggers with unerring accuracy, pale-blue energy crackling like lighting along the length of the blades.

Although her Life Energy cultivation was only a few ranks off the peak, and hence she had an excellent physical body that would ordinarily block steel weapons, the protective strengthening abilities she needed to block Skills now, even ones at Hideyoshi’s level, still needed some Life Energy to function, no matter how efficient they were.

‘Hmph, just when I thought I cut off all ties to those fuckers back home, I still ended up using that Skill and dying to a brat…Tetsuya, this was the best I could do, so please, live…’

These were Kazumi’s last thoughts as both her head and heart were impaled simultaneously.