“Again!”

Riku collapsed on the cave floor panting. For the past few hours, the voice put him to work imitating the movements portrayed all over the cavern walls. He never worked as hard before in his life.

“Why do I have to do this?” He asked.

“The engravings around you are the fundamentals. Without them, there is the potential of dying to amateurs. Remember, concentrate on the movements and focus your mind.”

Riku struggled to his feet and imitated the movements again. As he went through them, Riku entered a meditative state. Time blurred; Riku’s body moved on its own, copying the movements depicted in quiet serenity.

“This kid is quite talented. Not only is he flawlessly learning the movements which took my masters years to perfect, he is also improving upon them with ease. He is doing something not many beginners are able to do. I wish I could stay and see how he will change the world.”

Hours passed and Riku exhibited no signs of slowing down. He reached for his sword and swung it around methodically, dancing from one position to another, executing each swing with perfection.

Could Riku hold his own against multiple enemies? A swordsman, spearman, and mage were summoned to fight him. Riku stopped practicing footwork and turned to face the onslaught of attacks directed at him. He sidestepped a spear thrust, raised his sword to block an overhead swing, and vanished and reappeared in another location to avoid a fireball. His eyes narrowed at the mage, quite pissed at the interruption, and launched himself towards the caster. Alarmed, the mage conjured up an ice shield to defend himself. Roaring, Riku slashed his sword and a phoenix took shape. The phoenix probed the ice shield with its beak, retreated backwards, and charged straight at it.

Crack!

The shield collapsed in on itself. Time seemed to stop. Without hesitating, the phoenix grasped the spellcaster in its beak, chomped down, and cut him in two.

The upper half of the mage crashed to the ground. His eyes glazed over. His mouth continued to open and close, making gurgling noises. His blood and guts were splattered all over the floor, fingers twitching slower and slower until they stopped.

Silence overwhelmed the room.

The viciousness of the attack stunned everyone to a standstill. The swordsman was quick to gather his wits and stabbed Riku from behind. Riku looked down, laughed manically, and snapped the sword in half with his hands, pulling a part of the sword out from his chest. The swordsman retreated holding what remained of his sword. Riku turned around and threw his sword at the swordsman, pinning him to the wall. Riku stalked towards his trapped prey, struggling to get free. Riku jumped in the air and landed on the sword’s hilt, driving the sword deeper into the wall, causing his weakened opponent to writhe in pain. He laughed as the swordsman squirmed. The spearman took the opportunity and rushed at Riku, hoping to catch him off guard. Sensing bloodlust, Riku turned, grabbed the spear, pulled it out of the man’s hands, and punched him in the gut. The man vomited blood and passed out on the ground.

Riku turned back to the swordsman and toyed with the little pretentious shithead who caused him so much pain. He tortured the man, always avoiding doling out a fatal injury and watched with increasing amusement as blood pooled up at his feet. He let the swordsman bleed out and moved onto the spearman. He stabbed him repeatedly through the gut and watched as blood welled out of the wound.

He glanced around the room looking for more enemies to maim and realized he had killed them all. Riku leaned on his sword to steady himself. Once his breathing returned to normal, he fell onto his knees and passed out.

“The amount of bloodlust, the boy exhibited is quite demonic. After he grasps the basics of spellcasting, I will teach him to hide his aura. It would not do for him to die young.”