Shiga stood before the sect’s gates again. The journey back had been much faster merely because he was going in only one direction, but also because Shiga focused on avoiding trouble. He mostly did it to save time, but he also didn’t want anything to happen to Quezota. Over the course of three days, Quezota had grown a lot. She had originally fit in Shiga’s hand, but now she was as long as his forearm. Her front legs had extended and grown longer feathers too, so she looked similar to a wyvern with feathers. She mostly just laid on top of Shiga’s head and with her increased size she looked almost like a feathered hat if she didn’t move.

Shiga moved closer to the gates and saw that there was a rope on the left side and a sign that explained what it was for. Shiga walked over and pulled on the rope. He momentarily heard the sound of a gong being struck before the sounds of the forest reigned once more. Soon after the gates slowly began to open and Shiga quickly walked through. On the inside, Shiga saw the old man again.

“Ah, welcome back. You were lucky I take it?” (Old Man)

“I was definitely lucky. I didn’t come across any strong beasts other than some Rain Owls.” (Shiga)

“Rain Owls eh? They have any eggs?” (Old Man)

“They did...Why do you ask?” (Shiga)

“Just an old superstition from my home. They say that Rain Owls dislike trouble and will only lay their eggs before a time of peace.” (Old Man)

“I guess we are all lucky then.” (Shiga)

“I guess so! You had better go and take advantage of it then!” (Old Man)

Shiga respectfully bowed to the Old Man before heading back to his dorm. As he approached though, he frowned. There wasn’t anything that stood out, but the whole building seemed more worn down. There were some patches of ground that looked smashed, the wood around the doorway had several nicks in it, and the metal plate with the dorm’s number carved in it was bent in the middle.

Cautious now, Shiga made his way quietly into the dorm. Looking through the rooms though revealed that Jido wasn’t there so he couldn’t be asked about what happened. Shiga looked around a little bit more, but he couldn’t find anything that suggested what had happened.

Deciding to worry about it later, Shiga sat down to cultivate. He carefully expanded his world as much as he could. Quezota climbed down off of Shiga while he was cultivating and began to explore around him, curious about this seemingly new world. Near sunset, Shiga stopped cultivating and looked at his progress.

Shiga WateyaLevel 3World RefinerRed Forest SectNo TitlesBody12Mind14Soul18Arts

[Sky and Earth Art] - 2

+{Wind Grinds Down the Mountain}

+{Wind Splits the Boulder}

Skills

[Storm Horse's Kick] - 4

[Inner Space Meditation] - 2

[Companion of Life] - 1

His world had reached the size of a very small asteroid, but Shiga could already feel his progress slowing because he simply couldn’t get enough Qi. This would definitely become a problem, but Shiga decided that it could wait for now. Feeling hungry, Shiga decided to go to the relaxation area of the sect to grab a meal.

While he was walking over though, he noticed that there was a huge crowd at the arena and that multiple bouts were occurring. Shiga curiously walked over to see what was going on and after asking one of the attendees he found out that these were the final matches to determine who was going to be the year leader.

The year leader was chosen from one of the disciples that came in every year and they were in charge of all the disciples that came in that year including punishments and maintaining order. Year Leaders also get access to more scrolls, more pills, and a personal training room while they were still the leader. Anyone could challenge their year leader to a fight and if they won they would be the new year leader. If they lost however, the year leader could choose to punish them.

Shiga decided that he just wanted to rest so he walked away to get some food. He got a week’s supply of special feed for Quezota and got a magic beast steak for himself. It costed him the rest of the spare money he had from before the trip, but the magic beast steak would be helpful for Shiga’s cultivation because eating magic beast meat had many positive effects. Magic beast meat was naturally filled with Qi which helped with cultivation and it had a tempering effect on the body, naturally strengthening one’s entire body internally and externally.

After he finished eating Shiga went back to the dorm and went to sleep. The next morning Shiga simply relaxed in bed until he started feeling hungry again. He got up and hastily put on whatever he could grab, but just as he was about to leave he realized that Quezota wasn’t on his head like normal. Looking around, Shiga found Quezota in the large bag of food that Shiga had just bought which was now missing a lot of the food.

Quezota quickly got up when Shiga came over and immediately tried to climb onto his head. Quezota was now almost 3 feet long from nose to tail and the feathers that had previously looked like down, now were extremely long and brightly colored. Quezota’s long front legs were now even longer and easily stretched past the tops of Shiga’s shoulders. Shiga could only sigh defeatedly as Quezota stretched out on top of his head. Luckily Quezota was still relatively light and Shiga was stronger than a normal mortal so it worked out.

While Shiga was walking into one of the many restaurants in the relaxation area, he suddenly heard someone call out jeeringly behind him.

“Nice hat! Who thought you didn’t look stupid enough and gave it to you?” (???)

Shiga turned around to see who had called out. His gaze landed on an arrogant looking young man. This young man looked well built, but it was hard to tell because of his gaudy robes that seemed to have been splattered with extra fabric and precious metals. The young man had a sneer on his face while some people, who Shiga assumed were ‘friends’, laughed. Shiga only snorted and quickly replied.

“So says the boy dressed as a street performer” (Shiga)

The young man’s face contorted with rage and all his friends choked with shock when they heard that.

“You dare! It seems someone needs to teach you a lesson!” (Arrogant Guy)

“Like you can without your friends helping you” (Shiga)

“I AM NERO ARGO! I don’t need anyone's help to beat you into a pulp!” (Nero)

By this time a rather large crowd had formed and was watching them. Shiga and Nero both walked over to the arena and climbed up to an open ring while glaring at each other. Before they could start fighting though, an announcer stepped into the ring and addressed the now filling stands.

“Well would you look at this! Year Leader Nero Argo is already facing off against a challenger! The challenger is Shiga Wateya! Let’s get this fight STARTED!” (Announcer)

Shiga mentally groaned while settling into a fighting stance. Nero being the year leader meant that he was the strongest person out of the whole year, or at least out of those who competed for the spot. Despite his misgivings, Shiga launched a kick as soon as the bell rang. Nero countered by punching at Shiga’s incoming kick. The two attacks met and stopped each other.

“If this is the limit of your strength, you should give up now!” (Nero)

Shiga ignored Nero’s jibes and quickly twisted his body to launch [Storm Horse’s Kick] at Nero. Shiga had reached the fourth stage of this technique and it had enough force that it could completely splinter a wooden post.

Nero did his best to dodge to the side of the kick, but he was too slow and the kick glanced off of his torso, spinning him around and forcing him to back up a few steps.

“It seems you do have some strength, but your kicks cannot stand against my sword!” (Nero)

While saying so Nero unsheathed his sword. It was a traditional sword with an obscene amount of decorations on the hilt and guard. Shiga merely grinned and drew out his golok. He dashed forward while using {Wind Grinds Down the Mountain} to dodge and parry Nero’s attacks while using his right hand to punch Nero as much as he could. After a few minutes of this Shiga stepped back. They were both breathing hard from the fight, but Shiga looked mostly unharmed while Nero was covered in small cuts and bruises.

“You don’t look too good. Surrender?” (Shiga)

“Not even close! Taste my [Blade of the Setting Sun]!” (Nero)

Nero rushed forward while swinging his sword which seemed to turn orange like a sunset. Shiga also rushed forward and performed {Wind Splits the Boulder}. There two attacks clashed violently together and sent out shockwaves of Qi leaving the two of them locked together in a stalemate. Suddenly Shiga rotated his blade and caught Nero’s sword in the sword breaker on the back. Shiga used this to pull the sword out of the way while he spun around and launched a backfist at Nero’s temple. Nero was completely caught off guard and immediately fell to the ground from the blow. Shiga kicked away his sword and pointed his own at Nero.

“And we have a winner! Shiga Wateya has won the match! He is our new year leader!” (Announcer)

The crowd cheered while Shiga put his golok away and stepped out of the ring.

~~Author Notes~~

I hope you all liked the chapter!

Don't worry if Shiga seems a little OP. There are a variety of factors here including Nero being tired after the night before, him underestimating Shiga, Shiga using {Wind Grinds Down the Mountain} to wear Nero out, and Shiga getting a boost because of [Companion of Life]. Shiga actually got lucky in this battle because despite current appearances, Shiga has trouble under pressure and trouble developing plans and ideas in combat.

Sorry for the late release and sorry about next week too. My family and I are going out of town and I almost certainly will not get a chapter out.

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