Six months passed quickly.

Mera’s fourteenth Nameday had occurred only a few weeks after Kai’s. Unlike his, hers had gone without a hitch, and she’d started Cultivating immediately.

In the last six months, Kai had forged three golden meridian cords that channeled Heavenly Energy directly from his Soul to his body. That was the purpose of the Meridians, to cycle energy from the world to his Soul, and then back to his body where he could use other combat-oriented Techniques.

However, Hunter had refused to teach Kai any sword Techniques until he mastered the ten Forms and broke through to the Sword Earth.

In the last half year, Kai had mastered all the way up to the seventh Form, which, Hunter had explained, wasn’t surprising due to his already frightening rate of mastery before he’d formed a Connection to the Heavenly Energy.

Since Kai was now more interconnected with the world both around him and inside of him, he was able to see visible increases in his mastery almost every day. It had become easier for him to learn the Forms, and he now understood why true combat specialists started training at such a young age. He felt like he had a head start on other weapons users.

Every month, the most powerful people in the village, excluding Hunter, went out and hunted Beasts, to bring back both cores for themselves, and meat to feed the people of the village.

And every year, some of the hunters led a youth expedition to hunt lower ranked beasts to give them some experience. All of the youths that wanted to go, of which there were surprisingly a decent amount, would come to the village center on the appointed day and be led out to the edges of the Kigara Forest down south to learn to hunt beasts. They would make a three day excursion where they would also be taught which parts of the forest were safer to hunt in and which places they should never go.

And so, that is where Kai was now standing, in the Central Square of the village, waiting for everyone to gather so that they could head out.

He felt a nudge on his arm and tilted his head slightly down to see Mera asking him a question.

“Did you do it then?”

“Do what?” Kai asked, feigning ignorance, but dropped his mischievousness when she glared at him.

“Yeah, I broke through into the Third Rank of the Meridians Stage last night. It’s the reason I’m so tired, I was up till midnight, yet they wanted us to be here at the crack of dawn so here I am.”

She cared more about the fact that he’d broken through obviously, but not for the reason he would’ve thought.

“Haha, Taran was just boasting last week about the fact that he was now a Rank 2 Meridians Stage Cultivator, and I just wanted to punch him in his smug face, but now, you can brag about your breakthrough.”

“Wait,” she continued, her face brightening even more. “You can also just punch him for me, since you’re powerful enough to without any consequences.”

It was Kai’s turn to glare at his friend as he said, “I’m not punching him Mera. He hasn’t done anything to warrant violence other than being an asshat.”

“Exactly,” she said. “You got it, he’s being an ass.”

They bickered back and forth in good nature until they hear a loud clap that sounded out from the middle of the Square.

Every young Cultivator in the area gathered around the stage that had been set up, the same one that was used for the Naming Ceremony every year.

Koram, the Master of Arms, and Taran’s father, walked up on stage and started to explain some things to the Cultivators gathered around.

Most of the instructions were just safety precautions and warnings for the young Cultivators there, to make sure that they would follow all five of the hunters’ instructions while in the forest.

A bell later, twenty five young Cultivators and five experienced hunters entered the edges of the Kigara Forest, where they then split up into five groups headed by one hunter each, and then started to explore.

Fortunately, Mera and Kai had been placed into the same group, but unfortunately so Taran was also in their group. While they walked through the dense forest, Taran kept loudly boasting about his abilities, trying to project his voice to Mera and Kai in the back while the other boy in their squad the same age as Taran, ate up his words. The other woman in their group, a few years older than the other four, stoically crept through the forest without even acknowledging Taran.

Mera rolled her eyes at every single thing Taran said, while Kai just chose to ignore him.

A few minutes later, the hunter in charge of their squad, a man by the name of Varin, a Cultivator in the First Rank of the Channels Stage motioned for them to stop, which also quickly shut Taran up.

“What is it?” Mera whispered to Varin.

He motioned them forward, and so Mera and Kai stepped up to stand right beside him.

In a clearing in front of them stood three Blood Boars feeding on the corpse of another beast. The large beasts each had three black horns protruding from their heads, which helped them rip apart their prey.

“Blood Boars,” Kai whispered. “They’re known for the blood red coloring of their fur and for their eating habits, as they only drink blood. However, these ones are unusually…

Kai heard a snort and was cut off by Taran’s loud voice.

“So what? Blood Boars are just Rank 2 Meridians Stage Beasts. The beasts don’t even have Techniques yet. I can take them on my own.”

The idiotic boy stepped forward into the clearing, sword unsheathed, the foolish grin on his face symbolizing the confidence he exuded.

However, there was an unfortunate piece of information that Kai had tried to relay to the team, yet had been cut off by Taran before he could.

Normally, regular Blood Boars were Rank 2 Meridians Stage Beasts, as Taran had unceremoniously yelled out, but at a glance, both Varin and Kai had been able to sense that these Blood Boars had just broken through to Rank 3, most likely because of the Beast they were all feasting on.

And yes, although Taran was correct about the fact that Blood Boars did not have any Techniques, they had one Trait that made them dangerous.

While in the middle of feeding on their one form of sustenance, blood, if they were disturbed, Blood Boars would go berserk, resulting in an increase of strength and speed.

So of course, when Taran jumped out into the middle of the clearing like the fool he was and disturbed the Beasts from their feeding, they flew into a rage and instantly rushed him, large horns ready to kill.

Taran realized too late that the Beasts he’d assumed were Rank 2 were actually a step higher, which didn’t seem like much, but three Rank 3 Beasts together were much more powerful than they had been before.

Varin tensed in alarm, ready to save Taran, but a flash and a slight gust of wind signaled the disappearance of the boy that had been crouching next to him.

The supervising hunters were here to teach the younger generation, and weren’t supposed to get involved in actual fights between beasts and the young Cultivators, unless one of them was about to get killed, like the situation Taran had just put himself into.

However, Varin did not have to move because right before the three enraged beasts reached the stunned form of Taran, a flash of light moved him out of the way of their charge.

Kai threw Taran to the ground after saving him just in time before he spat, “Hold one of them off,” obviously annoyed at the fact that Taran had put them all in danger with his overconfidence.

He turned back to see two of the boars facing him, while one was being attacked by the others in their group. Kai chose the one on the left, and rushed with his sword unsheathed, stepping into that rhythm that was so natural for him after years of practice.

He activated the Cycle of Breathing and felt the Heavenly Energy rush through his three forged Meridians, strengthening his body and granting it more energy.

He was not able to use the energy for a Combat Technique just yet, because of Hunter, but the Energy still cycled through his Meridians, giving Kai a slight sense of comfort.

Sensing that Taran had stood up and faced the second Blood Boar, Kai focused on the Beast in front of him as it finally charged him. No matter how much Kai hated Taran in this situation for bringing this danger on them, he knew that the other boy was known as the young Cultivator with the most potential for a reason, and so, trusted him to at least hold off the Boar for a couple of minutes.

The Blood Boar rushed past Kai as he easily dodged, using his favorite beginning move to sidestep and score a hit on the side of the Beast.

Kai didn’t give it any time to recover as he slashed at it a couple more times. Its rage increased as its own blood was spilled and it spun around quickly, trying to regain an advantage on its opponent.

This was where being a human Cultivator had a large advantage.

Kai had heard stories about powerful beasts that had become sentient after they reached a certain point in their Cultivation. However, beasts at the lower stages, especially those like the Boar, had only three primal instincts etched into their minds. Kill, eat, and reproduce.

There was no strategy in its attacks, and although its body contained the raw power of a Beast that had just broken into Rank 3 of the Meridians Stage, it had no control.This was extremely fortunate for Kai as he had also just broken into Rank 3.

A quick plan formed in his mind and he turned and ran towards the Beast that Taran was trying to hold off.

The Boar, of course, charged Kai with no thought to what the puny human in front of it was doing. Kai turned at the last second, right beside the second Boar, and waited for a few seconds.

At just the right moment, he leaped forward, using his Energy enhanced body to jump over the four foot tall Boar and landing right behind it. The Boar chasing Kai speared the one fighting Taran right through the side, fatally wounding it. Unfortunately for it, it had also gotten its horns stuck inside the other Boar.

Kai quickly spun around and, avoiding the thrashing limbs of the Beast trying to fruitlessly free its horns, made his way to its neck, which was the softest part of its skin, and therefore, the easiest to cut into. He then rammed two feet of steel right into it, at an angle that would hit the brain, instantly killing the Beast.

The other Beast, the one that had been speared by its own brethren, was lying on the ground, its thrashing slowing down from its blood loss.

Kai motioned for Taran to do the same thing he had done to the other Boar, and quickly turned to where the third Beast had gone.

He sighed in relief as the other three had managed to work together to bring it down. Varin still watched them from the edge of the clearing, ready to jump in if anything had gone south.

Unfortunately for the group of three, their fight had brought them towards the northern edge of the clearing, and so when a loud roar sounded out from the north and a crashing sound was heard, they were the closest to it.

Kai’s heart fell to his feet as a Boar, almost twice as large as the ones they’d been fighting, stepped out of the forest into the clearing.