Setup

I need to get to the classrooms.

Kai's roll was starting to slow down as he reached the bottom of the hill, and he jumped back up to his feet. After swaying around dizzily for a few seconds, he regained his balance and started sprinting toward the brick buildings.

Before he could cross hardly any ground, the deafness affecting Kai's ears intensified by another level, until he could only hear the rapid thrumming of his own heartbeat. Kai immediately pivoted, dodging an attack he couldn't even see coming.

This time, it saved his life. The bear seemed to appear out of thin air in Kai's peripheral vision, its vicious claws narrowly missing his robes as it charged forward again. He vaguely noticed that the amount of black mist trailing over its shoulders seemed to be thinner than before, but he didn't have time to take a close look.

The stream was only a few meters away, and behind it, the temple and the brick classrooms. Kai leapt over the flowing water, his forehead creasing as he noticed the sound once again disappearing from his world. He could only faintly hear a deep thumping noise as the bear jumped over the stream as it chased him.

This time, the bear didn't wait for Kai to go fully deaf before attacking. The young man's instincts screamed at him before he could even reach the temple's pillars, and he dove to the side, once again narrowly avoiding the bear's rending claws.

Kai immediately rolled back to his feet, but his face darkened as he looked up. The bear was now directly between him and the classrooms.

"Alright, if a fight's what you want, it's what you'll get!"

Kai swapped his sword over to his good arm, then pointed the tip at his foe. The bear seemed entirely unperturbed, its soulless eyes glaring down at Kai as if he were a morsel of food.

Instead of waiting for it to charge again, Kai let out a battle cry and ran toward his enemy. The bear flinched as Kai's voice rang through the academy. It recovered almost immediately, but there was enough of an opening for the ruby sword to sneak past the bear's massive paws and score a hit on its shoulder.

Shit. I can't even break its hide!

Kai's expression fell as he dodged away from the bear's counter strike. Aside from trimming a few of the beast's pitch black hairs and giving it a wound comparable to a paper cut, his attack was entirely ineffective.

He couldn't even use the opportunity to sneak past and make another break for the classrooms, as the bear swiftly moved to block his path. Somewhere deep in its emotionless eyes, enough intelligence lingered to understand what Kai's intentions were.

If I could only use my Qi techniques from back home… Wait, can I? Now that I don't have Halia the parasite on me, I have access to all of the mana she was using before. If it works similar to Qi…

Kai tightened his stance again, letting out a controlled breath as he tried to focus within himself. After having been a cultivator for nearly a decade, it was a simple task for Kai to find and start manipulating his mana.

I only need to make it to the classrooms, this beast might give up on chasing me there. A movement technique should do the job!

Kai started forcing the mana down into his legs, trying to emulate a popular technique from back in the cultivation world. Almost immediately, he realized that something was wrong. Instead of seeping into his muscles and letting him make a mad dash forward, the mana just sat there.

Crap, how do I use this stuff?! This technique isn't working at all!

The bear noticed that Kai seemed to be doing something unusual, and Kai had to give up on manipulating his mana as he dodged away from another of its charges. This time, the bear anticipated which direction he would run in, and its paw landed a glancing blow on Kai's sword.

"Uff!"

Kai was thrown a couple meters back, the overgrown grass doing little to cushion the impact as his back slammed into the ground. Kai immediately got back up and retreated a few more steps, but his back bumped into something. The pillars of the temple were now directly behind him.

This would be great if this thing was only as strong as the deer, but a huge bear like this can probably demolish the entire temple!

Still, Kai backed into the relative safety behind the cracked stone pillars. Once again, he tried to focus his mana into his legs, but his movement technique refused to work with the mana. After a few more seconds, Kai gave up on it and started searching for other ways to survive.

He didn't want to take his eyes off of the bear for even a moment, lest it activate its magic and escape from his senses again.

Is there anything I can use? We already explored the other wooden storage buildings, there's nothing useful there. In the temple itself, there's just a bunch of chunks of rubble and a few statues. I doubt throwing rocks at this thing will help.

A tiny spark flickered in Kai's eye as he thought of something.

Wait, the statues! If my theory from before was right, and there really is a connection between our sect and this world, what about the techniques created by the sect's founder?

Kai reached for his mana again, this time driving it through his arms and into the ruby sword. Unlike when he tried to use the movement technique, the mana easily surged through his veins before gathering in his sword.

It's working! The Moonlight Sword Technique almost feels more natural using it like this than it did back at the sect!

A small grin started to grow on Kai's face as he charged back out of the temple, kicking off against the crushed stone rubble. The bear was just as ready to fight as Kai was, and reared up on its hind legs to meet his charge.

Kai ducked under its outstretched claws, narrowly avoiding having his scalp raked off as he dove under the beast. The bear's muscles immediately tensed again as it thrust itself down, trying to crush Kai under its weight. Once again, it was just a bit too slow, slamming into the earth in the moment after Kai slid out from under it.

Perfect. I'm glad this thing still isn't nearly as smart as a human!

Kai leapt at the bear, grabbing two fistfulls of its thick coat and climbing on top of its huge body. A few small clouds of the dark mana were still hanging over the beast's shoulders, but Kai paid them no heed.

Before the bear could roll or buck him off of its back, Kai shuffled over to stand just behind its shoulders before raising his sword. All of the mana in his body surged into the ruby blade, making the sword give off a faint ruby glow.