Lightning and fire formed in both of their hands as they looked uncertainly between me and Xerxes. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going through their mind. Especially since Xerxes' battle was anything but quiet. I pushed spiritual energy into my feet and grinned. "Well if you insist." I pushed off from the ground. I arrived in front of the pyromancer before either could react and landed a straight jab into his ribs.

  He doubled over immediately but I was forced to disengage. A bolt of lightning crashed into the ground where I had just stood. "You are going to need to do a bit better than that friend." I taunted and resumed my attack. This time I pressed the lightning mage. He was a bit faster and unleashed bolt after bolt at me. Each one was poorly aimed and slow which made dodging a bit too easy.

  Of course with the Eye of Heaven I knew whenever they would launch an ability so it didn't matter. This time I launched a right kick into his kidneys that caused him to double over. I was forced to change my next attack into a push kick to force us both out of the way of massive fire ball.

  "Don't hit me too" The lightning mage called out as he gasped like a fish.

  "Well if you weren't in the way you wouldn't have to worry." The pyromancer replied as energy amassed in a spot on his shoulder.

  "Fellas, fellas don't fight each other. That's my job." I danced out of the way of a lance fire that nearly torched the trio of beast people. I bent down and grabbed a piece of broken wood and launched it at the pyromancer. The wood tore through the air like a spear just slow enough for him to get down. I pushed the pyromancer to the back of my mind as the lightning mage returned to the battle.

  He activated a skill that caused storm clouds to fill the sky. "Die you fucking asshole."

  I stared at the rapidly amassing clouds with uncertainty. I wasn't worried about the damage it could do. My danger sense had finally picked it up but it wasn't enough to make me scared. No in this case it was the mark. The lightning in air was dragged into the mark. It wasn't enough to break the skill not yet anyway which made wonder. What would happen if I let it hit me?

  A crack of thunder cemented my decision. The clouds glowed dark blue just before a bolt of lightning the size of a person slammed into me. The sensation that passed through me was incredible. It was like getting hit with the worst stun gun imaginable. My muscles spasmed uncontrollably and I nearly dropped to my knees. As the lightning sought every inch of me for destruction. Before I could decide what I wanted to do about it the mark turned into a blackhole.

  Suddenly the lightning was the one being hunted through my body. The mark was voracious and consumed nearly 70% of it before the rest discharged into the air. I watched the process from start to finish hoping to figure out more about the mark but it didn't work. I had no idea where the energy went and the mark didn't give anything back. After a second or two I was forced to give up.

  "Well that one hurt." I turned my attention to the lightning mage and got to watch as his joy turned to ashes.

  "How are you alive!"

  I was about to respond when the pyromancer and unleashed another lance of flame. This one caught me across the chest which caused my robe's defenses to activate. The pain wasn't much but it was enough to be irritating. I was still pretty sure I could beat them with my hands but it would take too long and this wasn't a lot of fun anymore.

  "Xerxes don't kill or maim that guy. We aren't here to kill if we can avoid it."

  He transmitted irritation across our bond which made chuckle. "Alright fellas. Allow me to the be the one to congratulate you. I previously decided not to use my energy against you but I am abandoning that now."

  The pair looked at each other. Their expressions shifted from confusion to irritation and then fury. I was pretty sure they were about to say something but I didn't really care. An indigo sun appeared in the sky above as I activated Psionic Rain. "Last chance. Drop whatever valuable things you have in your storage bags or rings and leave."

  As if to punctuate my point their leader flew across the clearing and bounced off the ground like a ball. A second later Xerxes moved up next to me. I grinned down at him before I turned my attention back to the group. "So what will it be fellas?"

  The pair of mages scrambled to help their leader to his feet and then glared at me. Despite the attitude we all knew the fight was over. A second later I ended my spell and trio dumped out their treasures. "You can keep your tokens. I won't strand you here and I don't need them." I gestured to each one. The rest of the stuff was interesting. I didn't know what most of it was or did but some of it made me hungry so I scooped it into my ring.

  I then turned over to the beast trio. "So you all are still here? My gut tells me that you all don't want to fight so if you leave one valuable thing a piece you can go as well." Before they could answer I held up my hand. "This isn't a negotiation. We can still fight about it."

  Once again the same scene played out with the quantity being the only difference. The trio left three natural treasures. All fruit and all made my body ache. I wanted to know more about the fruits but the trio had already left. I wasn't too mad about it. I was sure the treasures won't dangerous which meant I could probably get Azariah or Desbera to identify them. The amount of energy they had was impressive but not overly so. They were all around the same potency as an attribute fruit.

  "I want half" Xerxes' words pulled me from my thoughts.

  "What? Since when did you want these things. You get the cores." I complained playfully.

  He only snorted and charged up a nearby tree. He was up and on one of its branches before I finished complaining. I checked the clearing again and decided to leave the flower. If either group had the guts to come back they would get a nice surprise. After I joined Xerxes and we set off. After the run in with that group of cultivators we decided to ignore the weaker enemies. The amount of energy they would provide wasn't worth the effort. Especially if I got injured.

  Our supply pills were low which meant every little bit counted. There was also the energy regained versus the energy lost to consider. Even Xerxes had lost interest in the small fry. Thankfully the token for the chimeric rhino lit up after several hours. We shifted directions and went after the target. By the time we arrived night had started to fall which only made me more anxious.

  Our target was closer to an elephant in actual size and looked like a tank. Its area was more grass land than forest which made me think the System set up the zones to benefit the monster. It had two horns in the middle of its head. Its skin was dark grey and thick. "What do you think buddy? Can you hurt it?"

  There was a long pause before Xerxes replied. I decided to let the silence linger until he was ready to answer. "I don't think I can break through its skin. Fire might work."

  I nodded. His reply was more or less what I expected. This guy looked like it was designed to counter heavy hitters. "I will take lead. I doubt its soul is as strong as its body. We split up to distract it and take shots until its dead."

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  We confirmed the plan and Xerxes moved around the right side. I gave him a few minutes to get into place before I began my attack. I began with Realm of Consciousness and imbued it with the Tao of Lucidity. The grey mist bellowed out from me in all directions. The rhino realized something was wrong attempted to charge me only to loose steam before it crossed half the distance. Next I activated Manifestation of Perfection. The familiar diamond appeared high in the sky and the beast wavered a step.

  Xerxes howled and a blast of fire caught the rhino in the right side of its face. The heat kicked it into gear. The rhino bellowed and charged in the direction of the flame only to once again loose steam. Next came Psionic Rain imbued with the Tao of Compression. Sharp blades of mental energy rained down on the beast and began to tear into it. I had just started amassing energy for my next spell when the rhino began its counter attack.

  Lighting crackled between its two horns. My danger sense picked up as my teeth began to ache. The power contained in this attack was much more powerful than what that cultivator could manage. I decided not to give it the chance to unleash its blast. Instead I fired Psychic Blast from both hands. Both attacks washed over the rhino and forced it back a step. Despite that it didn't stop charging its attack.

  My danger sense screamed at me to move right before the monster turned in my direction. I forced energy into Apportation just as it unleashed a concentrated beam of energy. The portal yanked me away just before the beam obliterated everything behind where I stood. When I stopped out of the portal I let out a sigh of relief. My heart beat picked up as I bounced on the soles of my feet. Now this was a fight!

  I formed a halo of blades and Xerxes unleashed another blast of flame. The rhino was hit by our combined assault but didn't stop. I waited for it to unleash the electric beam again but it didn't. Instead it picked a direction and charged. At first I thought it had somehow overcome the confusion but that wasn't it. The damn beast had just picked a direction and went for it.

  "Xerxes be careful."

  I was bout to open another portal but Xerxes took care of himself. He unleashed another blast of fire and then leaped to the right like a matador leading its bull. The rhino crashed into and then through three trees. I grinned and summoned six more blades. Three of which were made of compressed space. I unleashed all six blades and chased after the rhino to make sure it didn't leave my domain.

  Each attack found their mark but not even compressed space was enough to rip through the damn thing's skin. It was like it was impervious. Despite that the psychic attacks were doing their job. The beast's soul was definitely stronger than average but that wasn't enough. I could practically taste victory on my lips when it began to charge lightning.

  I leaped back wanting to put a bit more distance between us as I waited for the attack to charge. The energy it was gathering nearly much more than last time. I was about to retreat out of my domain when I smacked myself in the head. I had forgotten about Manifestation of Perfection. I snapped my connection to the spell and it emitted a soundless wave. A wave that washed over the rhino. The rhino immediately lost control over its self. I could see the energy backlash into its channels causing even more damage. The next moment the rhino collapsed.

  I fired another halo of blades and Xerxes unleashed another blast of flame to makes sure the thing was dead. We didn't relax until we received a surge of energy. There was enough energy to make up for what I spent in the battle and some. I ended Realm of Consciousness and let the mist filter away before we made our way up to our prey. I was about let Xerxes have it when I realized it would take him all day to carve through its skin.

  "How I about we take the whole thing and then carve it up when we have the time?"

  "Agreed"

  I placed the carcass in my bag and looked around. It was hard to know when the shadows would appear but it was best to get out of the open as soon as possible. I activated Apportation and we stepped through the portal. It took us two more jumps before we were in the thicker parts of the forest. From there we ran until we encountered another bird's nest only this one had been the sight of a battle. From the look of the blood the battle was relatively recently.

  We split up and searched the surrounding area before we entered. I closed up the entrance with psychokinesis and few broken branches. After that I expanded my Tao field until it covered our entire tree. There was a brief debate over whether or not it would be better to be hidden and thus not use the field that big or declare the area as ours. Something that would obviously not be stealthy. The final decision came down to power. We should be the strongest duo in this challenge or at least in the top ten.

  If we assumed the princes would takes themselves out or at least weaken themselves. We should be at the peak of power. So it would likely be more of a pain in the ass to pretend we were weak. On top of that good reason neither Xerxes nor I wanted to pretend we were weak. "I think we have enough power now. I am not sure how many days have passed since the start of the trial so we should pick it up. I want to try and take out at least two of our remaining beasts tomorrow."

  "A quick hunt would be reckless."

  "It could be but if we wait too long someone might reach the end of the trial first. I don't know much about the System but from I have seen it rewards skill and ambition. I feel confident that whoever finishes first will get a better reward."

  Xerxes didn't say anything for several moments after that. A calm silence fell and I decided to leave it alone for now. When he responded we were on the same page. "I agree. We should move faster. If that prince comes we might not be able to beat him."

  I grinned and patted him on the shoulder. "We've gotten a bit stronger so I wouldn't put it as a guarantee. That being said we should be careful. You rest first. I have a few things I want to take care of before I get some sleep. After that I turned my attention to the strange mark. There was still no sign of it doing anything. It didn't react in the slightest when the rhino unleashed its lightning which only deepened the confusion.

  I couldn't tell if it was diverse energies or potency of energy. I pulled out a spirit stone and started to absorb it but the mark didn't attempt to absorb it. I tried it with a couple of treasures as well but it was the same. I tried cycling and a few more things but they also didn't work. Is it full? If I assumed that the energy it drained from the lightning bolt put it as max capacity for the moment than that would explain this situation.

  I tried to pass my consciousness over and through it to get a feeling for how much power it had. Nothing happened. After few more attempts I decided to give up. I expanded my soul sense to monitor our surroundings but everything was oddly calm. No shadows, monsters or other cultivators passed by us. Instead of doing nothing I decided to meditate. I could feel that All three of my Tao were close to a breakthrough. I just needed the flame to ignite the process.

  Several hours later I still hadn't figured it out. The Tao was just as elusive as it had always been so there wasn't much more I could do until I got back to earth. From there the night passed uneventfully. Several hours later we were both awake and we set out in search of the next creature.

  We found our next target a few hours after we set it out. Just like the token showed it was a big tree. It boasted physical defenses that were on par with if not better than the rhino but that was it. Between Xerxes' flames and my psychic attacks the battle turned into a grind fest. The tree was able to swing its larger branches at us and shower us in razer like leaves but that made little difference. The battle took an hour or two. When it died the token absorbed its energy and we began the laborious task of searching for the core.

  "Alright, from now on I vote we leave the core if it takes more than fifteen minutes to retrieve." I grumbled and placed the core into my ring.

  "You might be right." The exhaustion in his voice made me feel a little better.

  "Alright so that's three down which leaves the bugs and whatever the blood is. The bugs would probably be the easier of the two. Our attack style is pretty good at large amounts of weak enemies. Especially if the enemies are stupid."

  "So you think it would be better to fight the bugs now and then gather our strength for the final battle?"

  I nodded and summoned the correct token. I triggered Apportation and we stepped through. We made two more jumps before we were in an area similar to the swamp zone. I expanded my soul sense in an effort to find the swarm or its hive but it didn't work. The area was just too big. Which meant we had to check on foot. As soon as we entered the area the mark came alive. It start absorbing the ambient energy which initially concerned me since this stuff was death attuned. When nothing bad seemed to happen I got over it. We were drawn into three more battles as we ran.

  There were more of the weird leathery skinned creatures but now that we knew how to handle them. They weren't a challenge. Eventually we found what we were looking for. It looked like a sinkhole from distance but it was actually a underground network of dug tunnels. The whole thing reminded me of an anthill only three times as large. "I have an idea but it might make the bugs angry." I grinned at Xerxes who only snorted in response. I stepped up to the hole and took a breath. This next part was going to be fun.