(Author: Hello! The fox ears and demon horn are permanent. His vermillion wings can appear at will. However, there are others who have horns and wings so those don't stand out. Although such inhumane changes are not normal, it depends on the Archon or true Archon technique. Now come's the time for the training for the inter-academic competition. It's not like a tournament. Anyway, Shu is now almost anything but human. He is a Practitioner, they cast away their Mortal bodies to defy the heavens and attain the power of gods and immortality. It's bound to happen. Someone angers Shu and, well, the rest is in the chapter. Reminder: I don't post on Sundays and I try to post everyday, provided I have a chapter for it written down. I am currently writing book 2 chapter 12. Enjoy.)

------------Chapter 7: The Tiger's Rage--------------------

"What happened to the scroll?" Shu asked as he noticed it was blank.

"All its knowledge is in your head. I assume that the stages will reveal themselves whenever you make a breakthrough. You fused with the dragon fox and attained part of its body. However, the spirit you should integrate with your technique should be the White Ocean Tiger. Although, I think it should be called Armored Tiger Ocean God. Due to the influence of the Great Spirits, the two spirits in your body fused together. Thus, you have successfully evolved your spirit. A rather unorthodox method, but not a bad one," Spook answered.

Shu nodded and headed to the grass fields behind the pagoda. Past the fields were the forests that led to the mountain. However, no magical beasts resided on the grass fields and was the perfect place for people to practice their techniques. Shu immediately closed his eyes as he began to read the specifics about the first stage. The technique required fusing with a Great Spirit, but you can choose to materialize your own spirit when you practice the technique.

First, Shu began to meditate, drawing his spirit energy to cover his body. His demonic horn shimmered as it had a new place on his head, the top of where the center above his forehead would be, hidden by his hair. It was about two centimeters. Shu assumed it replaced the other two demonic horns, but felt more spiritual energy within them than the other two. The horn was also as white as snow, like his new ears. Due to fusing with the dragon fox, his senses had heightened. He would often cover his ears as he was not used to the superior hearing he now had.

Finally, the spirit energy formed a layer over his body. Shu began to envision his Armored Tiger Ocean God and armor appeared on his arms and legs as he yelled an involuntary roar similar to that of a tiger. Then, he began to practice the fist and palm techniques he saw in his mind, as well as the kicking techniques. Whenever he kicked or punched, a faint outline of a tiger's paw would appear, shaped in the same position. Finally, after eight hours of non-stop practice, he could finally form a tiger's paw perfectly.

"The first stage is the easiest, as you have to survive the Pact," Spook reminded. "Now you must learn how to roar like the tiger. It will be your first sound wave technique and easiest soul technique to use. How you incorporate the sound of its roar to your fist and feet is the second stage. You should probably reach the second stage in time for the competition."

Shu spent the next day trying to create the soul technique: Tiger's Roar. When he punched and kicked, he could freely use any of his elements to encompass the attacks. Lightning tiger paw attacks were swift and held much destructive power. Dark tiger paws were like illusions, but still hit as they were spirit energy. It was as if he punched multiple times with a single punch, each strike hidden in the shadow of the other. Water tiger paw strikes were smooth and elusive. It was as if he was dancing. If a person tried to match the strike, he would not resist and channel that force to counter with another limb, using the opponent's own power against him. He could even freeze his target.

Still, no matter how much he screamed, he couldn't feel any spirit force behind it. Then, he thought about sound waves. It wasn't a blast, but like a circular wave of sound originating from his mouth. He didn't convert his spirit energy into the elements as he used the essence of his elemental spirit energy as the basis of his shout. Then, he started seeing results. Nearby creatures and birds would become stunned as he roared four layers of spirit energy.

The outermost layer of sound contained the essence of darkness. It would hide the image of the spirit energy and make it seem invisible. The wave would resonate with water essence and enter the body, most of which is liquid to begin with. Then, it would freeze, as if ice slowly crept inside as it spread like poison. The heart of the technique was the innermost layer, which contained the essence of lightning. This lightning was how he could create the shockwave that would start it all.

"The scroll was right. You don't combine the elements. Not really. You can combine their essence. After all, Practitioners can make the element they have affinity with, but they are all made with the essence of the element. The aspect of the element the spirit energy contains. I am just fusing those aspects together, returning the spirit energy into its pure, undivided state," Shu gasped. "It's like the human body. It has so many aspects, but they combine and exist in harmony to make the body. It's like how my blood does not boil as my nerves are stimulated. This Black Lotus Immortal.....absolutely terrifying."

"Uh, master, you might want to learn how to control that sound wave. Bahamut, Supaiku, and I were also affected. Not as much as ordinary life forms, but the effect is there," Wraith asked.

"HAHAHA! I felt nothing," Spook laughed. "Good. Seeing as you can comprehend it now, I will return to my dormant state. Congratulations."

Shu let Bahamut ride on his shoulder as Supaiku followed him to his dorm room, Wraith always on guard for any hidden foes. Shu put on a different jacket, still crimson but with a hood. There were straps within the hood to keep it over his head as they connected to the collar. With his ears covered, Shu headed to the cafeteria. As they entered the cafeteria, many people stared, warily, at Shu. They clearly remembered Shu going berserk. Shu paid them no heed and took three large plates of magical beast meat with some side dishes. Sitting on the table, he left one plate, piled high, for Supaiku as he began eating his lunch.

"Welcome back. I think your diet got worse," Hinako smiled. "Wait, are you at the sixth stage?"

"Yeah," Shu grinned. "What did I miss in class?"

"We didn't know about your advancement to the sixth stage, but people who visited you discovered you have a Mystic Crystal. I'm shocked. You reached the fifth stage of soul condensation. So quick too. Did it have to do with what you learned in the pagoda's top floor?" she asked.

"I'm just lucky I even survived," Shu sighed as he shook his head. "I heard about the inter-academic competition. What's it about anyway?"

"Oh, right. A list of people who are already chosen was posted outside the principal's office. Everyone is busy cultivating and learning new techniques. One of your friends was chosen. I believe it was Jiyeon Choi. She was chosen for her white magic. Pretty much most of the sixty mages were already chosen. However, she was chosen as one of the first year representatives, not one of the sixty mages. You were also chosen as one of the first year representatives, not one of the Practitioners," Hinako nodded. "I was chosen for one of the fifteen spots for the Practitioners of the sixth stage."

"What is the inter-academic competition? It's not a tournament, is it?" Shu asked.

"It depends on what path you follow. For mages, it's a competition of games like marathons, battles between summons, and stuff. For Practitioners, the first two parts are always the same each year. The first part is always to follow a path to the peak of some isolated path. From there, we head into one of the isolated areas. Our job is to survive against the magical beasts as we collect the talismans of other competitors. Each area is segregated from the other. Because you are at the sixth rank, with Weiss and Cassandra at the fifth, we will have more than fifteen Practitioners of your cultivation stage in the area. All the others will be of the fourth stage. First year representatives are excused from the restriction of only fifteen people per cultivation stage. Of course, only ten of the twenty first years can be Practitioners. The most competitive area is the one with the most contestants," Hinako began.

"The area with the fourth stage Practitioners. Is that bad?" Shu asked. "Since we will have three less Practitioners added to that group."

"No. Most academies see that stage as a sacrificial pawn. The more people, the better. It means that other first years will be in the higher groups, giving their school a higher chance. Only sixty four people, per group, are allowed to advance to the main tournament of their respective stages," Hinako sighed. "The seventh stage group always has one hundred and thirty five people, with no add-ins. You know, nine schools and fifteen people restriction."

"Did you get chosen last year?" Shu asked.

"I chose not to go. I wanted to watch my brother compete," Hinako shook her head. "I also wanted to see what it was like before I joined it. You can't quit once it starts. People die. For the mages, the most is staying on the sickbed for a month. Their competition feels more like an ordinary school's competition. You know, those schools for scholars. The exchange and observation of technical application of words, but with magic instead. I'm going into closed door training. Hopefully, I can reach the third level of soul condensation to increase, and enrich, my spirit energy. Later, Shu. See you then."

"Bye," Shu waved before finishing his lunch.

Before he got up to leave, he heard someone say, "Ah, Junior Brother Shu, wait up."

"Hm?" Shu frowned and turned to see a group of students walking to him. They were all senior students of the sixth stage. A few looked a year older while most were older by two or more years. The academy did give up to fifty years to reach the eighth stage to graduate. Unless you had a foreign influence, or sudden insight, it would normally take many years to reach the eighth stage.

"Ah, thanks. See, four of us seven were already chosen to represent a few spots for the competition. We wanted to see the first year who would join our ranks," a boy grinned. "The competition is dangerous. What matters is your skill in survival and fighting. I heard you reached the sixth stage because you learned an awesome technique. You definitely have to have some mastery if you want to survive. The biggest threat are students from the other academies. Not even monsters you cannot hope to fight are a bigger threat."

"It's because the students of the other academies want us to lose. We always win. Well, overall anyway," a girl chimed in. "We're outnumbered by one hundred and twenty people, at the least. Some might go to extremes and recruit an older first year at the sixth stage. So long as recruits are below fifteen, they can join. That's the highest I know of any academy. However, it means they lack talent. However, students with talents are only good seeds. See you later. You are a first year, so you can't refuse!"

Shu watched them leave before he stocked up on magical beast meat. He paid for about a thousand pounds and left for the forest. He had the body, and the soul, at the best possible condition. Now was the time to master his technique. He would have Wraith travel, in the shadows, and find magical beasts for Shu to kill. The more powerful the magical beast, the harder the labor. However, it was the best way to train and life-or-death situations would allow Shu to become used to using his technique, improvising it if he encountered a situation that rendered it less effective.

Once he got used to killing a few magical beasts at the sixth rank, he decided to go to the mountains. Wraith advised against it, but Shu wanted Wraith to leave him and Bahamut. Wraith would find magical beasts so Supaiku would be able to train and hunt, like a real magical beast. Bahamut made a chuckling noise when Shu noted that SUpaiku had gone fat from eating without training.

"Let's go, Bahamut. First, we'll travel the mountains. We won't go to the heart. I want to at least get some experience fighting the monsters in the mountain and how they tracked and hunted. It will prove useful when I decide to try to find that hidden valley," Shu said as they watched Wraith and Supaiku disappear.

Bahamut roared as it flew into the sky. Shu followed it, using his Phantasmal Sky technique to weave through the trees. As he ran, he also trained his Black Cloud Desolation technique, his lightning spirit technique he mastered the least. He tried to maintain a fist-sized cloud around both hands as he ran through the forest. Occasionally, he would shoot spears of blue lightning at empty spaces in the forest, creating small pits with each lightning bolt. He would often manipulate the clouds, until he only needed a cloud the size of a thumb to create enough lightning to incinerate and explode a whole tree.

He was also able to expand the cloud to three hundred feet in an instant. He could freely move within the cloud, able to hide inside the tiniest speck of cloud without revealing himself. At night, he was practically invincible as his clouds would be invisible and he could easily escape any magical beast, striking them with a spear of lightning when they least expect it. He was finally able to use the hidden trump card. A highly concentrated and condensed black cloud of lightning that he could eat to temporarily increase his strength and speed. The drawback was great fatigue and exhaustion of spirit energy.

He also began using the dagger he got from the ancient clan member. The skull dagger really was a great asset for any stealth attacks. His arm never made a sound whenever he wielded the dagger. He would use the dagger whenever he needed to ambush a magical beast. The more he hunted, the more he felt a hunger to kill stronger magical beasts. It was as if he had a goal to become the most powerful on the mountain. He would often track by smell and sound, heightened beyond normal human capacity. He would stalk his prey, brandishing the skull dagger as he imagined tearing the flesh.

Even now, he began shaping his palms and slightly bent them, in imitation of claws. his lightning paw attacks simulated a tiger clawing at flesh. He discarded his palm techniques and began using claw and fist techniques. He also began learning grappling techniques. He would often wrestle with the weaker magical techniques. He didn't want to kill them outright. He wanted to learn how they fought, how they think. All in order to become a stronger, faster hunter.

"You know, master, you scare me sometimes," Spook said.

"Hmm?" Shu asked as he was eating the leg of a magical beast bear he killed on the mountain. "I scare you?"

"You're eating the magical beast meat of a bear. Raw. Your acting more like a beast everyday. Constantly hunting. It's been a month. You should spend the rest of your time back in civilization. You have got to get rid of your bloodlust. You'll scare the humans," Spook advised.

"I guess I should....what's that? I smell blood, a lot of it, but I'm not the one who caused it. Someone's on the mountain," Shu said as he stared east. Someone was running, frantically, from the mountain and to the village. No, not someone. A group. They were running from something. Something dangerous. Something delicious.

"BAHAMUT!" Shu roared and leapt on his dragon's back as it sped toward the action. He spread out his spirit sense and counted three people: two girls and a boy. One of the girls was carrying the boy while the other one desperately tried to fend off what seemed to be a monster.

The trio looked up as they saw a huge shadow block the sun. They saw a large, shining green dragon with a student with golden fox ears wearing the crimson jacket of their academy. He leapt from the dragon and landed next to them, the dragon landing in front as it blocked their path.

"Hi there! Uh, don't mind the blood on my clothes. It's not mine," Shu said as he looked at himself, seeing them take a defensive stance at him. "You might want to get out of the way. I have business with that magical beast. It looks tasty, I mean dangerous."

"Tasty?" they thought as they quickly moved aside.

Shu grinned and pulled out Arctic Emperor. He didn't want to use the skull dagger in front of others. He observed the magical beast, looking for a weakness. It stood at fifteen feet tall, had four limbs, and had mammoth-like tusks. Its face was like an eel, but had six golden eyes that closed horizontally. It had four limbs and its fur was dark blue, a bright red mane around the back of its head. Its tail looked like a tree root, but moved as if it were a living snake.

"Oh, how can I eat you," Shu said. "If only we didn't have an audience. Oh well. I'll settle for draining you dry of all your spirit energy."

Shu roared, stunning the magical beast and forcing it to crash onto the ground as its velocity was too fast. Shu created two large, black clouds and had them cover the blade of his katana. He used his Phantasmal Sky technique to appear at its neck in a flash, cutting down with his katana. Blue lightning crackled, showing a blue lightning rainbow as he beheaded the magical beast. Resisting the urge to lick the blood that sprayed on his mouth. He placed a palm on the magical beast, draining its spirit energy. Its fur dulled and Shu quickly carved out the demonic core from its head.

"Bahamut, that's your lunch," Shu said as he pointed behind himself as he walked to the trio, a quick moment of envy on his face as he watched Bahamut fly to the corpse. "Here, it was chasing you. I have a lot of demonic cores I can sell. Next time, you shouldn't head to the mountains. At the fourth stage, you guys are just asking to be eaten. Later."

Shu's vermillion wings broke out from his back as he tossed the demonic core to the uninjured girl. They watched him leave, unable to believe their eyes. They had heard about the first year God Eater who broke into the sixth stage. They didn't think they could actually meet him.

Shu first headed to his room to cut his hair, bathe, and wear clean clothes. He sighed as he wore his hood over his head once more. Wraith and Supaiku had been waiting in his room as they had arrived a week prior. Wraith returned into his shadow as Supaiku followed Shu, now at the fifth rank. Bahamut actually made a breakthrough to the seventh stage. Shu sighed as he strapped Artic Emperor at his waist and left his room. Many people, below his cultivation, bowed as he walked to the cafeteria. After all, he was a sixth stage Spirit Shaman. Another reason was that he walked with his spirit armor on his arms and legs still. He radiated fear, danger, and power. Some bowed out of respect of his cultivation stage. Others bowed in case it would anger him not to.

Along the way, he saw the professor. The professor was headed to the faculty cafeteria. They exchanged a few words and the professor advised that he wait until he was a Spirit Shaman to condense his soul further. True experts continued condensing their soul past the soul lake forming at the second stage. However, the physical body could only withstand so much. In order to grow a powerful soul, the Practitioner needed a powerful vessel. They left once the professor gave Shu a few more pointers about how to harness his spirit energy.

Supaiku purred happily as Shu gave him a large plate piled high with magical beast meat. He stroked its back before eating his own pile. He looked up and saw Joey and the others, tired and slightly injured. Hinako also joined him as she had returned from her closed door practice. She also looked tired and sat next to him.

"Whoa. You guys look beat," Shu commented. "What happened while I was gone?"

"Weiss, that asshole," Joey cursed. "Max and Mary got broke their bottlenecks and advanced to the fourth stage. I did a half month later. I was the only one who joined the first year representative list after beating Weiss's thugs. Mary and Max did not want to be targeted by Weiss and opted out. However, Kei and Bella reached the fifth stage. The only problem was that they were not picked because Weiss ambushed them before their qualification matches for the open spots. They were forced to compete with the other members of the fifth stage for the regular fifteen spots. Luckily, they managed to win."

"That coward almost cost us our spots," Bella agreed. "Geo qualified as he learned a single intermediate spell: earth golem summoning."

"That leaves Daniel, Mary, Max, and Kai out," Jiyeon said. "Another first year fire mage was chosen so Daniel didn't qualify. Kai also did not qualify as he can't control the toxicity of his poison spells."

"I tried to learn as many spells as I could," Kai shrugged. "Next year, those mages better watch out."

"Why are you so tired?" Shu asked Hinako.

"I've been cultivating so long, I'm not used to moving so much anymore. I recently broke through to the seventh stage and I have to participate among the seventh stage Spirit Shamans," she smiled weakly. "Where did you go? You don't look like you did closed-door practice."

"I don't need to. I needed to get my body used to the sixth stage. I have the body and a higher soul condensation level than anyone at my cultivation stage. I needed to get more practice using my techniques. I also had to get Supaiku to grow stronger. This little guy is at the fifth stage now," Shu grinned as he pet Supaiku's head. "It's just not fair how they rise so fast. Still, I'm surprised you reached the seventh stage. Are you the youngest?"

"Yes. I was especially chosen for the competition because of my fast cultivation rate, However, my fighting prowess is not great. I mainly fight using formation barriers. That's why I came here. The principal is a master at them. I hope to learn some of his techniques when I head to the top floor of the pagoda," Hinako grinned as she drank some water. "I'm not like you. I don't improve my techniques by killing magical beasts or hunting them for food. If you didn't cultivate, then you must have went to the forests and mountains behind the pagoda."

"No wonder you radiate such an oppressive atmosphere. Even now, I feel like you can kill me if I even stumbled on your path," Joey shuddered. "How many did you kill?"

"Only magical beasts," Shu shrugged. "The forest held too many weak magical beasts. Once I got the hang of my techniques, I started hunting in the mountains. I didn't go to the snowy mountains in the heart of the mountain range. I'd probably get killed there. I spent the last few weeks hunting and mapping out the mountains. I'll know where to go and how to avoid the denser areas of magical beast, in the future."

"Fuck. There's Weiss now," Joey cursed as they all saw the familiar, white-haired kid with his bunch of thugs. "Even mages flock to him now. Cassandra's worried a war might break out amongst first years. The principal was warned, but he said he didn't care, so long as no one is missing a limb or got killed."

Shu didn't know why, but he felt angry when he stared at Weiss. Killing intent flowed from his body, suffocating many people. Once someone reaches a high enough cultivation, they could utilize an aura of killing intent. It was similar to baleful aura, but the aura is violet and not black. Of course, one had to kill a substantial amount of people. Such violent aura could only be made through effort. Shu had killed millions on Earth and dozens of magical beasts. How could he not develop a fiendish aura. Even the seventh stage senior students were alarmed.

"Weiss. I don't know why, but you continue to piss me off. I can tolerate you cursing me silently, but now you messed with my friends. I can't kill you, but I will break you. You and your whole pathetic faction," Shu growled and disappeared.

Weiss looked around and saw Shu behind himself, howling with pain as Shu kicked him in the genitals. Shu grabbed the head of one of the mages and smacked it against another. Shu stabbed a Practitioner with his fingers covered in spirit energy, intentionally missing the vitals as he couldn't kill. Weiss drew his two-handed sword and slashed at Shu. Shu spat on the floor and caught the sword with his bare hands, spirit energy protecting his skin fromt he edge as he caught it using his tyrannical strength. He jerked the sword and kicked Weiss in the chest, sending him flying.

A mage quickly cast a fireball on his back, but Shu was uninjured. Pissed off, Shu punched at the mage with a dark tiger paw, punching the kid eight times with a single punch. Due to his tyrannical strength, the boy crashed through the wall. Many senior students cheered, enjoying the action as it was above their expectations. They were not chosen for the competition and had no need to enter closed-door training.

"How dare you! Men, let's trap the bastard in a formation!" Weiss roared and his Practitioners stood in front of him in a pyramid formation. Shu narrowed his eyes as he was trapped in a four-square point formation.

"HAHAHAHA! You think you can trap me in one of the two most basic formations? Do not test me!" Shu roared, blasting his spirit force into the barrier. Weiss and the others coughed blood as several cracks were made before it shattered.

Supaiku enlarged to its full size and pounced at Weiss's men. It bit and slashed some of them, careful not to kill them. Saint level magical beasts were intelligent. Furthermore, a magical beast that had bound to a master would also gain a boost in intelligence. Weiss paled as he had no more men to fight for him. His weapon was knocked out of his hands when Shu had kicked him. Shu brandished his katana as he walked to Weiss, slowly. Weiss could hear his heart thump louder with every step Shu made, the fear growing stronger as each slow step felt like hundreds of swords were pressed against his flesh.

"I beat you once, and you only came back more determined. I can't kill you, seeing as the academy needs you. However, I can cripple you for a few days. You won't even be able to move once I drain you dry of all your spirit energy. You'll recover, seeing as you have a Mystic Stone. Know despair," Shu grinned, cruelly, as he grabbed Weiss's face and drained his spirit energy from his body.

"Spirit sealing technique?" one of the senior students frowned.

"I think so. It's not a permanent one as the God Eater said the guy would recover," another said.

"That mean the faction war is over? What do we bet on now?" another sighed.

"We can bet spirit pills, gold, and demonic cores on how they fare in the competition!" one shouted.

Many seniors began huddling together to exchange information on who were already competing and who would most likely qualify for the remaining spots. There was only a week left until the chosen were finalized. The stronger students gave lists of people to find info while the rich and noble students would use their connections to discover the info of the other academies. Then, they would team up with the gamblers of all the other academies. Why did they do this? Many nobles and powerful figures would be watching the competition. There was plenty of benefits to be had while watching the games.

"That felt good," Shu sighed with relief as he sat down on his chair. "Good work Supaiku."

"Uh, I guess Cassandra's faction wins?" Joey asked, tilting his head in shock as the tiger returned to its adult cat size and continued eating its meal.

"Yeah. No more worries of ambushes by Weiss," Bella agreed. None of them were scared as they saw Shu smile at his magical beast. They knew he was kind to those who showed him kindness. They made a note, in their hearts, never to anger him intentionally.

"You really need to eat some vegetables or some noodles," Hinako commented. "You're not a magical beast."

"I'll eat some chicken vegetable dumplings. They're the best. Whoever created them, thank you," Shu grinned, nodding at the ceiling in respect, before heading off to grab three bowls of dumplings. He would have nodded at the sky, but they were indoors.

"I guess we better eat now," Geo sighed, amazed Shu can still eat after all that blood he and Supaiku caused.

"Yeah. I agree with that," Daniel said, rubbing his stomach as he walked over to the food.