Kiting

The boar's hot, rabid breath buffeted Kai's ankles as he ran, and his vision started to narrow.

I'm going to die. This thing is stronger and faster than me. I don't have my cultivation, it's-

[Why are you still running? Kill this thing!]

The absurdity of the confidence Kai heard in Halia's voice instantly snapped him out of the hopeless thoughts in his mind.

"Kill it? It's going to rip me to shreds!"

Kai continued sprinting straight down the street as an annoyed sigh echoed in his mind.

[Right, I forgot that you always ignored me when I told the others how to fight stronger beasts. Think about what advantages you have over it. That boar is stronger and faster than you, but you have me, and I'm more intelligent than it. Try to win using your strengths.]

Kai wanted to ask what Halia could know about fighting when she was the only non-combatant among the five core disciples, but he was already starting to run out of breath.

[Just kite the boar. Dodge to the side, hit it, then run again. It won't be able to turn as fast as you, so you won't be in any danger.]

Kai didn't have the time to think over her plan, but turning around in any manner sounded like a death wish to him. In all the years he'd hunted beasts around the sect's borders, he'd always taken on ones that he defeated head-on, or he'd fought in a group.

[At least stop running in a straight line! Run into one of the buildings on the side of the road or something!]

Kai finally listened, veering to the side and sprinting through an open doorway. The boar tried to follow his movements, but its momentum carried it forward, causing it to slam through the rotted wooden walls of the next building over.

Luckily the space inside was relatively clear of any obstacles, and Kai managed to keep his balance. Without pausing for even a moment, he ran further into the building, charging through two rooms before finding a second door.

A single kick sent the rotting door crashing to the ground, and Kai jumped back outside, turning toward the building the boar had crashed into. The beast was still struggling to free itself from the rubble, and had lost track of Kai.

"Die, beast!"

Kai shouted as he lunged forward, jumping through the gaping hole in the neighboring building and plunging the ruby sword just under the boar's shoulder. The tip stopped short of the beast's heart as it struck a rib, and Kai hurriedly backpedaled after pulling it back out.

Roar!!!

A tremendous noise shook the area around Kai, and his expression froze. The boar was still in front of him, grunting as it broke free from the house around it.

The loud roar hadn't come from it.

[Whatever that was, it sounded like it was still a ways away… but I have a bad hunch that it's probably a lot stronger than this boar, and it's probably coming our way. We're on a time limit.]

In front of Kai, the boar didn't seem to hear the roar at all, being too lost in a rage after having been stabbed twice by Kai's blade. It jumped out of the rubble of the wood around it, but it stumbled as it stepped down with its left leg.

Another opening!

Kai lunged in again, aiming his sword just to the side of his previous stab.

[No! Back up!]

The boar twisted, and Kai's sword uselessly brushed against its shoulder without doing any damage. Kai hurriedly tried to pull out of the attack, but the boar swung its head toward him with surprising speed, the massive, sharp tusks headed straight for his chest.

Boom!

A flash of light lit up Kai's surroundings the moment before the tusks could impale him, and a wave of heat washed over his face. The boar recoiled as a swirling ball of flame landed directly on its eye, but it was already too close to Kai.

Both tusks ripped through Kai's snow white robes, and its snout slammed directly into his chest, sending him flying a few meters back. Trails of white cloth ripped from Kai's robes, igniting as residual flames from the explosion rippled over them.

A few meters away, Kai slowly rolled onto his knees, his chest desperately heaving as he tried to draw in air.

Get up. Get up. This isn't over, get up.

Before he'd even regained his breath, Kai pulled himself back to his feet and leveled the ruby sword at the boar. A shiver ran down his spine as he saw his opponent also back on its feet.

Two flaming trails of cloth hung from its tusks, dragging on the dusty, trampled ground as it prepared to charge him again.

Kai's expression froze, and one of his hands reached down to feel at his chest. There was no wound, only ripped cloth.

"My robes… How dare you?!"

A thick, viscous killing intent fell over the battlefield, and the boar took a tentative step back.

Kai didn't even wait for the boar to charge again, instead running at the beast himself. He hacked straight down at the boar's head with his sword, and it bucked away in confusion. The foe that could only run and launch sneak attacks before was now blindly charging forward?

It was so taken-aback by the aggression that it missed what chances it had to counterattack.

The boar managed to dodge Kai's first two wild swings, but its eye failed it on the third attack. Having just tanked an explosive fireball at melee range, the boar's left eye failed to track Kai's movements, and his blade sank into its side once more, right next to his previous two cuts.

The sword snuck between the boar's ribs, stabbing deep into its heart. In the center of the essential muscle, the sword's tip struck a tiny, condensed orb of mana. The tiny ball broke apart, then immediately tried to disperse into the boar's body. Before even the tiniest smidgen of mana could escape, a faint ruby glow shone from the sword's blade, and it instantly sucked in all of the energy.

A faint stream of mana ran up the blade of the sword, flowing through the runes inscribed within the sword. It continued up into the hilt, where the mana was absorbed by Kai's hands, which were still clenched around the grip.

"I'll kill you for ruining these."

Kai cursed under his breath as he pulled the sword out, then drove it back into the boar's chest. He struck four more times, not noticing-or not caring- about the lack of resistance from his enemy.

[Oi! It's already dead, stop! Whatever roared earlier is probably coming, that fireball made a ton of noise!]

At the same time as Halia spoke, a hand pulled at Kai's shoulder, and he spun around, ready to wield his sword again.

"Aah! Friend!"

The young man in blue robes fell to the ground as Kai's sword nearly struck him.

"We need to get out of here before the beasts swarm, we made way too much noise!"

Kai shook his head, trying to drive away the rage that'd overtaken him for the battle. His gaze traveled down, passing over the limp body of the boar and down to his clothing. Long strips were missing from the front, and crimson blood was splattered all down the front.

Dirt and broken chunks of rotted wood dusted the bottom half of the robes, turning their once-pristine white to a dirty brown.

Enla made those robes for me...

Kai reached up and rubbed his forehead as the memories from before the ruby tokens activated replayed in his mind.

The phoenix diving down, Halia jumping in front of it… and just a second before that, Enla and the newcomer disciples disappearing under its flames… and now the only gift Kai had with him from Enla was ripped and torn.

[I'll find a way to fix your robes. Run for now, before any other beasts show up. Make sure this guy stays with you, we can learn a lot from him.]

"Hurry, if you don't want to end up as beast food!"

Kai shook his head, forcing away his memories and refocusing on the present. In front of him, the blue-robed man reached for his belt, then cursed under his breath before turning back toward Kai.

"I'm all out of mana, can you cast a dispersion spell?"

A what? Aren't 'spells' some random thing Halia made up as a kid?