Surviving the ordeal : narrow escape.

"Brat, you dare try to run?" he shouted, his vision blurred as he tried to focus on Oasis.

The pain in his head made it difficult to channel his spiritual energy, but he forced himself to pull out a large black bow, mounting a black steel arrow with a dark aura radiating from it.

"I will kill you, brat!" Rurik roared in pain, locking his bloodshot eyes on Oasis as he prepared to shoot.

"Damn it," Oasis thought as he realized he was being targeted again.

He glanced back at Rurik, his eyes narrowing with concentration.

In a blink, he tagged Rurik's conscious realm with his gaze.

Rurik felt the tag instantly, a disruption in his focus that caused him to release the arrow without properly aiming.

The arrow missed Oasis by a hair's breadth, instead striking a large, dry tree along the valley.

The impact shattered the tree's truck, leaving a massive hole through it before the arrow buried itself deep into the valley wall.

Rurik, still reeling from the pain in his head and the tag on his consciousness, started moving again, albeit more slowly.

He was now barely stable, his movements unsteady, but he was determined to catch up to Oasis, who was now some distance away.

"Damn, at this rate, he'll catch up to me," Oasis thought, his broken arm hanging loosely at his side, the dagger still embedded in his shoulder.

Blood continued to drip from his wounds, his body on the verge of collapse.

But his eyes, locked on Rurik, allowed him to sense the pursuer's movements even without looking.

As Oasis moved through the valley, he scanned the area ahead, his eyes zooming in on a potential escape route.

In the distance, he spotted a dense forest and a stream flowing nearby. It was his only chance.

There!!

Oasis thought, his gaze locking onto a wooded area near a stream flowing through the valley.

He pushed his body to the limit, using the last of his mana to increase his speed, each step agonizing as he fought to keep moving and prevent further blood loss.

Without wasting a second, Oasis jumped into the stream.

Splash!!

The cold water splashed around him, turning crimson where his blood mixed with it.

Rurik, still trailing him, watched as Oasis disappeared beneath the water's surface, but as soon as Oasis submerged, his presence vanished entirely.

"Huh? What just happened?" Rurik thought, his eyes wide with confusion.

Oasis's presence had entirely disappeared, leaving the assassin standing on the bank of the stream, bewildered and in pain.

Rurik stood at the edge of the stream, his frustration mounting as he tried to make sense of what had just happened.

His eyes scanned the water, his mind racing with thoughts of how Oasis had seemingly vanished without a trace.

He couldn't even sense the presence of his dagger, which was still embedded in Oasis's shoulder.

"I can't sense even his presence... I also can't sense my dagger," Rurik thought, his frustration boiling over.

He slammed his fist against a nearby tree, the impact causing the bark to splinter under the force.

The cold water of the stream continued to flow, washing away the last traces of blood, leaving Rurik with nothing to track.

"Did that brat use space techniques or magic?" he pondered, the realization dawning on him as he recalled the battle.

"Magic and Martial techniques!!!"

The pieces began to fall into place, and Rurik's eyes widened as he grasped the full implications of what he had just faced.

"That brat is a mage and also a martial artist. How is that even possible?"

The combination was rare, and the thought of Oasis having both arts made Rurik's blood run cold.

"I must find that brat and kill him. He must not grow any stronger," Rurik muttered to himself, the urgency of the situation becoming clear.

His mind flashed back to the moment Oasis had used the Phoenix Glaze technique.

The sheer power of Oasis's spiritual energy had almost crippled him, leaving him vulnerable and disoriented.

"And I don't like his eyes," Rurik thought, a shiver running down his spine as he recalled the serpentine gaze that had almost turned him into a vegetable.

The memory of those eyes, so powerful and unnerving, lingered in his mind, fueling his resolve to eliminate Oasis before he became an even greater threat.

Rurik clutched his head, the pain still throbbing from the spiritual attack.

He could feel the damage within his consciousness, a lingering reminder of just how close he had come to defeat.

The water of the stream continued to flow, the blood now completely cleared, and Oasis had disappeared without a trace.

"As long as you still have my dagger, I will find you, brat," Rurik thought, a dark promise forming in his mind.

He knew that the connection to his weapon would eventually lead him to Oasis.

The hunt wasn't over, and he was determined to track down the young warrior, no matter how far he had to go or how long it took.

Rurik's frustration was palpable, his body trembling with the pain and the intense desire for revenge.

---

Huff! Huff! Huff!

Oasis lay on his back, his chest rising and falling heavily as he struggled to catch his breath.

His body was drenched, a mixture of cold water and warm blood seeping from the dagger still embedded in his shoulder.

He had barely escaped with his life, and now he found himself in an entirely different location—a tranquil yet secluded training field.

The field was a stark contrast to the chaos he had just fled.

A large building stood at the center, its wooden structure emanating a sense of calm and stability.

Surrounding the building were towering bamboo trees, their tall, slender trunks swaying gently in the breeze, creating a natural barrier that enclosed the area in a serene embrace.

In the open space before the building lay a well-maintained training field, its surface marked by the footprints.

The soft, slightly damp ground cushioned Oasis's body as he lay sprawled out, utterly exhausted from his ordeal.

To one side of the field, a small garden flourished, filled with a variety of herbs that gave off a faint, soothing aroma.