Shadow?

"Goodbye, puny human." Zi Bai's voice rang through the cavern as he readied his final attack to his prey.

Hong Zhao didn't just stay limp and give into his fate. He struggled against the force that held him in place as much as he could, yet he couldn't budge. "You better hope I don't remember your name, Zi Bai!" He roared. "Because I will be back, and you will die by my hand!" He began yelling out obscenities as Zi Bai stared at him.

"You could at least die with some honor." Zi Bai said as he shook his head, smiling at the young boy. "Honestly, what has your mother been teaching you?" He released a large Qi Blast towards Hong Zhao and turned to go back to his perch within the cave. It would take some time, but he would be able to mold some more stone lions with his own Qi to replace the cubs the boy had killed. In another ten years, he might have half of his kin back.

When he turned his head, he missed the entrance of a black shadow along the wall which zoomed towards the cursing Hong Zhao, reaching him seconds before the boy had met his fate.

As he was yanked from the wall, Hong Zhao's eyes went wide, but he kept his mouth shut. The form that had yanked him away was familiar to him, yet not. The same eyes that had looked up to him for as long as he was alive in this world looked at him now. Power seemed to radiate from him as he placed Hong Zhao down on the ground, facing the other direction from Zi Bai.

He hadn't seen his friend since he was within the Eighth Star Student Rank, yet now Hong Zhao didn't even have a sense of what rank he must have been at now. Though he knew this was his friend, he hardly recognized him. "Shadow?" Hong Zhao whispered as he looked up. Though it was a ghost of a whisper, it was enough for Zi Bai to turn once more.

"The hell?" He left his platform once more and moved back to Hong Zhao. "That wasn't enough to finish you off then?" He walked over and readied a kick to the kid's stomach. Before it hit, a hand came up and caught his leg. The hand was covered in black fur, as if someone were wearing a pair of black gloves.

Zi Bai shifted his gaze slightly to see a young boy, with jet black hair all within tangles. He was bare chested, with black fur that covered him from the waist down, a tail wrapped around his middle. The face was innocent enough, aside from the glowing green eyes and the cat ears above his head. "Who the hell are you?" Zi Bai kicked out at the child, who easily dodged the attack.

"You are a new magical beast then!" Zi Bai jumped back a few paces and faced the half panther. "And you are allying yourself with this human?"

If Hong Zhao paid attention enough, he would be able to see the anger transforming the appearance of Zi Bai's face to better resemble the stone lion he had transformed from.

Zi Bai launched Qi Blasts from his outstretched hand in rapid succession, trying to catch Shadow off guard, yet the young panther-boy ran on all fours, picking up speed as he went in circles taking up the entire distance of the cavern in a matter of seconds, then running on the walls. Blasts rang out as the Qi Blasts hit rock instead of flesh. Hong Zhao saw as the cavern shook from the power Zi Bai was demonstrating, yet Shadow seemed to be able to stay ahead just by a half of a second.

Shadow jumped from the ceiling and extended his own claws from his hands and lunged for Zi Bai. With his intense speed, he was able to scrape him on the chest before being knocked aside by the stone lion magical beast.

Seeing slight success, Shadow repeated the same attack from all angles. He ran on walls, on the ceiling and in between Zi Bai's legs to hit him at the same spot over and over again.

Hong Zhao figured out what his friend was attempting and formed two more Qi Balls. By the time he was ready, the gash in Zi Bai was large enough for Hong Zhao's attack.

Zi Bai could guess what was going to happen as he looked towards Hong Zhao. Instead of taking any chances, he focused his Qi Blasts on the small human instead of the half-panther. Though the new magical beast was fast, the speed would eventually wear off. He didn't seem to have any latent abilities unlocked yet, so he would only have to outlast him.

Before the first blast hit Hong Zhao, Shadow raced towards him and moved him to a safe distance. When Zi Bai refocused his attention on the moved human, he noticed that one Qi Ball was missing. Before he could do anything, it appeared on his chest and Hong Zhao activated Qi Explosion!

Hong Zhao and Shadow watched as Zi Bai was rocketed towards a wall of the cavern, chips forming within his formidable armor, yet he still got back to his feet, readying himself once more. His smile was filled with promise as he stared at both boys. "I'm really going to enjoy this." He dug his claws deep within his palms. Blood oozed out and a glow began forming within his fists. At first it was dim, then it began pulsating with light. "I just unlocked this ability, so do your best to die with some honor!" raised both hands towards Hong Zhao and Shadow. "Blood Qi Blast!" He roared the blasts left his hands, a concussive force left behind.

Hong Zhao was pulled out of the way in a split second, which was all the time he needed and over the last Qi Ball he had formed. Shadow raced once again, barely visible to the naked eye. Zi Bai knew better than to pay attention to Hong Zhao this time. His eyes remained on the panther-boy as he zipped around the cavern.

Red flashes of power chipped away both the walls and ceiling as Zi Bai kept Shadow at arms length. Though he wasn't able to hit the panther, he was able to stay on his toes. If he guessed where the boy would appear, he would aim for that spot, making it impossible for Shadow to advance.

As the war to gain ground continued, Hong Zhao kept against the wall as he slowly made his way towards Zi Bai. His eyes focused on the spot in the magical beast's armor that Shadow had opened up with the last Qi Explosion.

"You are going to die for this puny newborn!" Zi Bai spat as he tried to speed up his blasts. It almost seemed like he was releasing two large beams of red as they zoomed back and forth, trying to hit a shadow. For a moment, Hong Zhao was reminded of a cat chasing a laser.

Just as Zi Bai almost caught Shadow, he noticed a blue glow and looked down to his chest, just to notice the two Qi Balls which stuck to the hole within his chest! He looked to Hong Zhao who had just gained some distance. "Now hear my name and remember! I am Hong Zhao!" He activated Qi Explosion!

Zi Bai was not blasted into the wall. Instead, his eyes filled with disbelief as cracks formed from the center of his body, which spider-webbed through his whole body until he shattered into hundreds of pieces.