Chapter 24. Training.

Alaric stood infront of the hyena. He squatted so as to be of the same level as it. He looked at its pleading eyes. So it was now begging for mercy? He could only laugh as he realized the major rule of the martial world. Strength was everything and kill or be killed.

"You know I was the one in your position few minutes ago and I could be the one begging now. Would you have listened or you could have just ended me?" Alaric spoke his hands landing on its fang as he easily pulled them out. So all this strength he had in him and he had not yet tapped into it all that time.

" Don't you think its a bit hypocritical that the moment you are faced by your death you try to switch sides? You actually should know that I take seriously those who dare mess with my life, my mom's or my friends... It was even worse for you to have messed with mine. I just can't help but wonder, how does hyena meat taste. I also need to know if I can finish one alone," Alaric spoke and the hyena shuddered it was going to die anyway but to learn that even in death it would not reat in peace and would become human food was painful. Especially when that was what it had been planning to do. Its eyes showed despair.

"Ahh, don't worry," Alaric soothed it, "I will make sure that you get utilized fully to energy, you can rest assured," Alaric continued. If the hyena could talk, then it would start begging for its life. It knew that what he was saying was true but could it help it? It was dead whether he killed it immediately or left it there. Alaric raised the axe on his left hand and sliced the Hyena's neck. He was definitely going to need its body to help him refine his lost strength and heal his broken bones. He first removed the core from below its belly as he left the meat to dry first then went to get some wood. Life would be paradise in such a place when everywhere he turned to was meat!

A while later Alaric lay on his back after eating the hyena. One could not beleive that he had eaten a lizard in the morning and now it was night and he had eaten a hyena. The hyena though was a bit too much for one could see some meat not eaten yet. It seemed that beasts with cultivation could fill him easily. He now had a Cryptic Plane beast core. He had it in his bag. It had turned out to be yellow. Alaric fell asleep and after two days he woke up. It was Sarah who told him that he had been out for two days. He was annoyed for losing two days. Now he had only three days left. He had two days to train. He would definitely get out of this forest a changed man.

Alaric walked out of the cave and felt his eyes blinded by the sudden light. After he adjusted, he set out without any particular direction. Whichever beast he came across would have its fate sealed. An angel of death was lurking in the woods. Alaric was also looking for his next meal. It had been two days of hunger! He roamed for almost two hours and he was yet to meet any beast. He was bored that he ended up slicing the trees at their base with a single slash no matter their size. Was it that the beasts were running off or what was wrong?

'You can now release the aura of a person in the mid stages of the Cryptic Plane, the beasts are currently in hiding,' Sarah said. Alaric was surprised. Aura?

"Why is it that it never manifested before? And why should it be in the middle stages?" Alaric spoke not hiding his voice.

'Probably because you have unlocked your battle intent. Also if you have not realized after eating the hyena you have healed completely already.' Sarah said. Alaric scanned his body and found out that it was true. It was funny how he learned of the occurrences of bis body from another person and not himself.

"So, what do I do about it?" He asked.

'Hide it,' Sarah said.

" Yeah, I know, what I am asking is how?" Alaric almost raised his voice.

'Everyone has a unique way. You can just create an array to seal it,' Sarah started. ' You could also make sure to stop the energy from escaping your body. That will automatically seal the aura,' Sarah explained.

"Oh,. I see," Alaric said and nodded. The next moment, there was no aura from him at all. It was like he had no cultivation.

This was one good way to attract these foolish beasts which dared to think of attacking the weaklings. He walked a few meters and instantly a beast appeared. It was a black ant. Its length was almost five meters and its height one meter and a half. Its six legs standing sharp and metal like swords. Its large green eyes filling almost all of its face. It exuded a green substance from its mouth and its green teeth really made it look menacing. It let out a screech to scare him. That was something Alaric was learning. The best way to instill fear was intimidation. That was also the reason all these beasts had disappeared after sensing his aura. What was funny was the ant trying to scare him a roar that came out as a cry of pain.

" Am gonna enjoy torturing you, you know..." Alaric spoke his hands pocketed as his eyes shone with battle intent. "Too bad I can't eat you..." He did not finish his words as the ant struck. He jumped away landing almost ten meters away. The ground he had been standing appeared cracked and the ant looked at him angrily. He dared to evade its attack? Alaric did not plan on removing his hands from the pocket. He was going to use his legs alone and train on ways of building his momentum and speed. He had also realized that close hand combats were fun. He wanted to kill this ant using kicks alone.

He watched as the ant charged at him as it screeched when it saw him charging at it. Like it was asking 'you dare try to fight back!'

It moved faster as it decided to use an elemental attack. Alaric had not expected that beasts could also use the wood element but that only made it fun. More kicking bags!

He watched as the green vines charged at him. This was really going to be fun. Alaric jumped and appeared on top of the vines standing on them. This further enraged the ant. Evading was acceptable but standing on one's attack like it had built a platform for him was utter mockery. Even a beast without intelligence like it could tell that that was the case in the least.

It watched in despair when it saw him jump in the air and prepared a kick as he came rolling down his hands still pocketed. The kick landed on the vines tearing them into shreds. The ant unconsciously took a step back and released another atack that came from the ground creating a dome around Alaric. Then it started contracting it to encase him in it then kill him. That was going to be satisfying. Its eyes opened wide as it saw the boy spring himself backwards in the air and on his left foot were some vines. He then landed on top of the dome and his hands still were pocketed. The ant knew that that was its greatest attack and it had been neutralized!

It was then that its beastial instinct kicked in and told it the one thing to do. When things go haywire, the only thing to do is to run. The ant turned as fast as it could and started running. That human had no cultivation so there was no way he was going to catch up. But from behind, it could hear footsteps. The steps appeared to be getting closer every passing second. In less than twenty second, it could see the guy running on its left. It was moving at top speed and from the looks, the human was not even using his full speed. It watched as he went further ten meters infront and stood there facing it. It could not beleive that he still had his hands pocketed.

"I never thought that you would cower off easily gauging from the speed you appeared," Alaric said as he watched the ant turn to its left and started running. " Aah... This is no longer fun though," he said after yawning, his palm on his mouth as he appeared infront of the ant.

" My turn," he spoke again and in seconds he appeared next to the ant. His speed seemed to have improved too. He swung his leg and kicked the ants middle right leg. The ant received the shock of its life as it saw its leg flying away. A green liquid came from the fresh wound. " I must acknowledge you are slightly tough," Alaric said as he swung his left leg and kicked the right hind leg.

The ant fell but that was not the end as he kicked the front right leg causing it to fall on its side. He then stopped at its head. He wanted to know how many kicks it would take him to detach the head from the body. If one saw him all covered in the greenish slimy liquid, they would call him a masochist when they saw him land a kick on its head at its lower jaw. The kick did not detach the head but it sunk deep in its lower jaw. Alaric's green sweatpants were now all green. He kicked again with his right foot and something snapped. The ant which was holding on the last thread of life felt it's spine detached.

"Just one more kick!" Alaric said on top of his voice as he prepared himself like a striker in a football field. He took a step back and gathered some momentum and with a step he swung his right leg and it landed on the lower jaw. But that was not all. The head which should have flown away was turned into minced meat.

" Dammit!" Alaric cursed. He surely had expected to send the head flying almost fifty meters away... He just sighed when he saw his condition. His whole body appeared to be all covered in the green liguid. He angrily started kicking the beast until he left it like it had been run over by a beast horde. Alaric had forgotten and on the process he had crushed the core. His smiled angrily as he walked away. He needed another beast to vent out his frustration.

'You are a masochist you know?' Sarah spoke up.