The next day, Kroshieshi knew immediately the boy hadn’t slept. He’d cultivated for sixteen hours straight, it appeared. True, cultivators needed less sleep and nutrition as they rose higher through the realms, but Boneroot was not there yet. If he forewent sleep too frequently, especially in the fledgeling stages of his path, he would only cripple himself.

Even so, the tsovar felt it wasn’t the worst outcome. He’d fought with inexperienced cultivators, before. Usually, a few came into the heart of the woods every decade to cut their teeth on the mysterious ‘hellecats’ that are legend among villages around the edges of the Sentoru Forest. Often times, they looked just as Boneroot had the day before when they realized the possibility of their own demise. At least the boy had kept control of his bowels. That was a major plus, in Kroshieshi’s book.

The day’s sparring was no less brutal than the previous. That night, Boneroot did not cry, but slept.

The next day was the same. That night, he cried and slept.

The next was the same. That night, he cried and cultivated.

Eventually, though, Boneroot adjusted to the new routine, just as he’d gotten used to the previous changes. It took several weeks, but he regained the ability to sleep consistently at night. With each sparring session, the terror which gripped him subsided slightly and he was able to focus on improvement.

Once he did, the days began to blur into each other. He returned to his room each night far too tired to truly reflect on anything going on in his life. The only times he broke out of this fugue were to acknowledge some milestone in his cultivation or techniques: using two Radiant Claws at the same time; increasing the power of his five-fingered Light ki technique by condensing them into a single beam; landing a hit, albeit a weak one, on Kroshieshi.

Day in and day out he cultivated, practiced, sparred, then slept. The daze of time only intensified when Kroshieshi amped their sparring sessions up to every day. His thoughts were consumed entirely by gaining strength, spurred on by the terror of his daily fighting partner.

Even the tsovar was surprised by the effect his ferocity had on the boy. He might have felt bad if it didn’t have such an effect on his students progress. Four months later, Boneroot had risen to high Red realm and Kroshieshi knew with near-certainty he would be able to break into the Orange realm before leaving for the Brightmoon Sect. In the stupor of this relentless pursuit of power, half a year elapsed from their first spar and Boneroot hardly even noticed as he came up on his tenth month in the grove.

~

The event which finally shook him from the haze was the second return of Kuroki. This time, however, he was in tow of Felindei. The two of them showed up one day just as Boneroot and Kroshieshi were preparing to begin their spar. By this point, Boneroot was able to spar for up to two hours per day, depending on the extent of the damage his teacher inflicted.

Some nights, before he passed out from exhaustion, Boneroot’s thoughts turned to the immortal. He wondered, since he’d grown more accustomed to fighting Kroshieshi, if he might fare better in the ancient cultivator’s overwhelming presence. Now, he knew the answer was no.

Over the course of their spars, Boneroot was forced to block out any and all distractions before he fought. When Felindei arrived at the training grounds, that mental discipline meant nothing. He stood frozen, facing his teacher, who was warily looking over the boy’s shoulder. The voice he heard speak aloud behind him was just as sweet and menacing as the first time he’d heard it.

“It has been some time, child.” Boneroot knew better than to object to the label. “I will see your progress now.”

Felindei had taken the same human-like form as she had in their first meeting. Boneroot assumed it was just a form, or an illusion, rather than a physical change she’d undergone in her cultivation, but he didn’t know for sure. Her expression was serene, no hint of the threat she represented on her face.

By her side, Kuroki looked on with a distinct lack of his usual enthusiasm. At a glance, Boneroot couldn’t tell if he was tired or upset. The cat’s voice was unusually subdued as it whispered into the boy’s mind.

“Feli has a surprise. Be careful.”

The immortal in question looked down at Kuroki. Boneroot felt brief panic as he realized he didn’t know if she could overhear the mental warning. She didn’t admonish the little cat, though.

“Focus up, boy.” This time, it was Kroshieshi’s voice shaking him from his thoughts. “Fight just as you always do, but stay sharp. Don’t embarrass us.”

As his mentor signalled the start of the fight, Boneroot wasted no time activating his Sunless Stride. His plan was to appear ten feet behind Kroshieshi’s starting point. That was where he liked to retreat to when Boneroot began their spar aggressively. As he stepped through the technique, he spotted his teacher at the predicted spot. Boneroot sent a surge of qi into his fist to strike down at the face in front of him.

Unsurprisingly, Kroshieshi was quick to react. He ducked his student’s punch and swiped at his ribs. The strike was slow, though, and Boneroot was able to lock the tsovar’s extended paw under his arm. With his other hand, he channeled Light ki into each finger and unleashed five beams in different directions, slightly askew of his target’s center mass.

The maneuver was an attempt to tag one of Kroshieshi’s escape options, but the older cultivator managed to dodge each one with a series of quick, precise movements. In retaliation, he bit into Boneroot’s shoulder. The boy tried to harness his qi in the area before impact, but it did little to deter the powerful fangs sinking into his flesh.

Boneroot bit down a yelp and hurled himself backwards. The damage to his shoulder was severe, but not enough to render the arm useless yet. Kroshieshi lunged, front claws extended. To the teacher’s surprise, Boneroot stepped in to the attack. As he did, he sent a qi-charged uppercut into the hellecat’s gut. Before it could land, though, he was knocked back by Kroshieshi’s charge.

As he slid back toward the center of the training field, Boneroot assessed his energy reserves. He had been relying largely on his qi thus far in the fight and knew he couldn’t sustain that much longer. Kroshieshi was circling, adopting a reactive approach to their spar now.

Boneroot grimaced. His ki techniques were all-too-easy for his master to counter. Part of him wanted to embrace the slower pace, but the moment he considered it, his opponent was feinting toward him, forcing Boneroot to stay prepared for a prospective attack.

He quickly cobbled together a roughshod plan of attack. That plan, roughly summarized, was to expend as much ki as possible and hope to get lucky before Kroshieshi finished him off. Boneroot probed his mentor’s defenses by swiping his hand out in front of him. Seven feet away, a Radiant Claw tore into the air where the tsovar had just been circling. With a swipe of his other hand, another claw shimmered into existence five feet to the left of the first, but neither caught their target.

Boneroot threw out one more Radiant Claw, hoping to keep his teacher pinned down, and launched himself forward with the qi in his feet. As he leapt, his opponent kept an eye on the Light ki starting to collect around the boy’s fingers. When Boneroot landed, he struck out with his free hand, only for the punch to be parried effortlessly. Meanwhile, he condensed the five Light beams about to fire into one and aimed it directly at the cat’s chest.

Kroshieshi dodged with a quick leap to the side, but found himself followed by another of Boneroot’s Radiant Claw’s, this one actually managing to score just the edge of one of his back paws. No sooner had the technique sliced off a small tuft of fur than he counterattacked with a half-strength headbutt, pushing off only one leg. The attack still forced Boneroot into a stumble and by the time he recovered, Kroshieshi was on him, putting a deep gash in his chest with two claws. He gasped at the pain and knew their spar was over.

Before anyone spoke, his teacher offered him the healing salve, which he applied liberally before sinking into meditation. Perhaps it was rude, but the wounds on his shoulder and chest were even more gruesome than normal. When he rose, the worst of the damage healed, he was greeted by Felindei’s steady gaze peering down at him. After a moment, she spoke in the perfectly even cadence Boneroot had come to fear.

“Adequate performance. Kroshieshi you’ve gone soft in your old age. When these two leave you and I will need to do some intensive training.” Boneroot thought he caught a shiver run down his mentor.

The second observer, however, spoke with much more enthusiasm. Kuroki’s voice was shrill, bordering on a high-pitched ring with excitement,

“Was that a Mega Beam?!”

“I call them Mini Mega Beams,” Boneroot revealed with a grin and a quick demonstration. “But I can put them all together to make a Mega Beam.” Even though he knew Kuroki was still leagues ahead of him, he relished the first opportunity to brag he’d had in a long time. The young cat’s adoration was just a bonus.

Before he could try the technique out himself, though, Felindei interjected.

“Yes, yes, you will have time to play later, Kuroki. First, we must attend to the primary reason for our return.” She turned her gaze back to Boneroot. “Your cultivation progress indicates you will likely be reach the Orange realm before you two leave. This is good. However, there is one more task you must complete before I am willing to send you to the Brightmoon Sect. Meet Gangwei.”

Felindei made no motion, uttered no words, but, suddenly, another person was present with them. Specifically, another human, wearing a sleeveless, brown tunic and frayed, canvas pants. He had to look up to lock eyes with the burly man in front of him, but when he did, he found no joy in them.

The man had his arms crossed and he his gaze was fixed on Boneroot with a grim determination. His face was a collection of sharp, angular features, partially obscured by his shaggy, black hair. Not only was the man tall, but he appeared exceptionally strong. Muscles and veins snaked down from his shoulders arms toward twin tattoos of actual snakes on his forearms. Boneroot knew that cultivating qi could make up for the difference in build, or musculature quite easily, that wouldn’t matter unless the man standing before him was below Red realm. He doubted that was the case.

When the boy finally peeled his eyes away from Ganwei, Boneroot saw Kroshieshi shift slightly in his peripheral vision and he noticed apprehension had taken hold of Kuroki yet again. He was eyeing Gangwei with a wariness bordering on disdain. He wanted to ask the young hellecat what was wrong, but he couldn’t do that without asking aloud. The chance wouldn’t have materialized regardless, as Felindei capitalized his attention once more.

“You two will fight to the death.”

The words left only silence in their wake. In a single sentence, Boneroot felt as he did the first time he’d sparred Kroshieshi, struggling to mentally grapple with the fight to come.

“I am not confident that you are fully prepared to see this journey with Kuroki through, so I prepared a final test of sorts,” The immortal stated plainly.

Perhaps it was the recollection of how he felt after those first spars with his master, or just the shock of a true life-or-death decision presenting itself, but Boneroot found himself shaking his head. He stopped himself after realizing what he was doing, but it was too little, too late.

He whipped his head back toward Felindei, eyes wide. The feline pupils staring back at him were glowing with the white of an infinite, unfathomable moonlight. An all-too-familiar dread seized Boneroot’s consciousness as Felindei let loose of whatever hold she put on the power.

“Oh? And how do you expect to refuse? Know your place.”

Boneroot’s jaw clenched, but he was unable to suppress the shiver that her words caused. The hitherto stoic Gangwei held up better, but the effect was still noticeable. His crossed arms took a slight tremor and beads of sweat sloped down his pointed face. They both released a heavy breath when Felindei let up.

“Can I meditate a bit longer to heal my wounds?” Boneroot’s dry voice carried a stutter as he mustered his remaining courage to grasp at a single moment’s reprieve from the pressure bearing down on him.

“No.”