Final Hunt before Departure.

= It's your sixth birthday today, master.

Nexus sounded nostalgic and a bit expectant.

"I even know what you imply here." – Aiden gave a reserved smile, while beads of sweat kept falling down from his forehead. Sword in his hands, he performed the same routine every day with weights on limbs while revolving marks to cultivate the body further.

His attention was simultaneously drawn to platinum aura with golden corona. It was sharply condensed, pulsing subtly and giving off a very dangerous feeling.

Dragon Sword Aura.

A realm of swordsmanship he comprehended long ago during the battle with a demon. But only now it was fully understood and under his control, with the signs of being strengthened every day.

= It's time to go I believe.

Aiden stopped his training and looked around the cave, which was his home for more than two years. He already reached 29th level of spirit power and was very close to 30. That breakthrough is just a matter of a single push. But most of his time he trained in the art of combat and developed a number of his marks further. He was pretty confident in the possibility of withstanding black ring as his third, but to kill such spirit beast is… well impossible, they are too strong.

Seven purple marks were connected to every cell of youthful body invigorating it with power and only Aiden knew how much effort it took him. But he really felt hesitant to leave. Soon, however, this hesitation went away.

It is time.

He just can't be here forever with no contact with the outside world. There is a need to figure out the timeline and his age compared to Shrek Seven Monsters. In that way he at least can fathom some future event's being ready for them, but still… Tang San conflict, in the scope of that demon legion, looked like mere local strife for power and kindergarten outing for revenge. Aiden, somehow, saw it pettily and knew that he had a better thing to do.

What Spirit Hall? Well, sure, the novel depicted it as an epitome of hypocrisy and evil but he has an actual world here, not written story. Will it really be that simple? Will they be that unreasonable?

However, the hearts of humans and the power of faith, especially blind ones, can't be underestimated.

If one just remembered inquisition in Europe during medieval times of Earth and the fact that they influenced the development of medieval society for centuries back then, slaughtering tens of thousands of people, which in their age was a tremendous figure… well, one would really be an idiot to not think of the worst-case scenario.

And by the novel description Spirit Hall is a religious organization that highly empathized their own supremacy to other humans and their birthright to rule. If so, it would be impossible to not clash with them. But what worried Aiden is another matter altogether that was connected with demons.

Through his travels in the North Pole, he found that they are frequent guests here and have already tasted human blood.

Two tribes.

Whether children or elderly… it was like they were through a meat grinder. Snowy plain crimson from blood, ice froze mangled corpses to have them stay like that forever and fell might still lingering around with its corruption permitting the air.

No matter what he said about the law of a jungle, he just couldn't turn a blind eye to demon roaming his home, ruining it on their marsh. Yes, the North Pole, no matter how harsh and deadly, was and still is his birthplace. After living here for so long he felt attached to purity of snow, to the simplicity of lifestyle and straightforward nature of survival.

It was wreathed with the freedom that was very hard to find elsewhere.

This free spirit and vastness helped him to find purpose and let go of the past, thoroughly assimilating with whom he is now, new Aiden, a boy of six years old with his passion for research and inspirations on the path of cultivation. It forged him good, and he was grateful for it, thus wanting to preserve this place with all his might.

Leaving?

Yes, that was necessary. He needs to leave, because of a long road ahead, but before this, he has one last thing to do.

"Let's go, Nexus. It is time to hunt down this elusive pest."

= Acknowledged.

Aiden went out in a graceful manner like a white ghost. No sound, no signs left on the snow. His movements incorporated techniques from Storm Reaper Divine Art almost subconsciously. That was a realm trained through hundreds of battles.

They glided through the icy plain in a south-west direction, where the crystal forest took root.

"It should be near here."

= Master, will the other party come?

"That is a good question, but I think if they are not suicidal, they better not." – Aiden sighed remembering what happened at that time. It was your typical tribal hunt. A squad pursuing spirit boar of blue and white fur. Eventually, they took care of it, when a sound of battle in the distance made them curious. Or maybe they thought to have more harvest, which wasn't wrong. Food is scarce for tribes here.

Halfway there, the sound stopped and was replaced by a furious screech.

By the time they arrived, what they saw was the source of disaster. It was a dead demon and a bird laying on it in sleep.

"Jackpot!" - they thought.

"That's bad!" – Aiden knew, but as he was tailing them, he was too late to warn unfortunate hunters.

It was his first time witnessing unsealed might of a fell beast. Although not yet a demon, a hawk that killed it and assimilated with its ring wasn't so lucky as to have a platinum dragon spirit to cleanse it. It was a drastic transformation into something different, foreign to Soul Land.

And it attacked with ferocity and abandon of something better described as a biological weapon, not living creature.

It was fast, ruthless, and deadly.

Hunter's party never stood a chance. Aiden back then won't be able to fight aerial beast too and he never needed. The hawk flew away right after killing everyone. However, he put a tracking mark on it. It was a simple formation from the cultivation era. Even a child of a previous civilization could use it easily. Of course, it can be erased as easily too, but the beast was mindless, so it never did so.

Since then, two weeks flew by. Roughly so long it took Aiden to build a suitable battlefield.

That hawk would be his second demon to bring down, and one hell of a tough thing to kill at that. After all, it has no sealing marks, neither it is wounded. That promised to be the most direct fight so far.

= It felt you and is approaching at a very fast speed. Master, prepare to engage.

Aiden surrounded himself with three layers of revolving petals, four of them per one. Ji Ning, you little cutie, gave the inspiration. His left arm held the bone sword, while right tightened its grip of Hell's Bane.

With a high-pitched cry, covering part of the sky, Storm Legion Fell Hawk attacked with no hesitation. But here was the wrong place to fight it. Aiden revolved his energy and dodged like a ghost backward in several steps.

One step – one strike. You retreat and kill every step; you advance and do exactly the same. Battle never stops, the sharp edge of a sword is the best shield.

Petals in a fraction of a moment lined up and took a full brunt of a charge on themselves, leaving only one intact, but that sent Aiden tumbling on the ground, still, beast never stopped and swiped with its wings, drawing sparks from the swords.

It changed drastically, perhaps due to fell might or demonic corruption, but its wings grew arms on their bones like the ones of a bat. Now hawk could use sharp claws in front and even run on the ground like an ape!

Aiden didn't retaliate, for now, he used its power to effectively move backward where the true battlefield will be. Ice shards and snow flew everywhere. The ferocity of demonic spirit beast was off the charts, decimating everything on its path of the rampage.

Like that, they entered a crevasse leading to open space deep down, full of protruding pillars of ice.

Aiden stepped inside and hawk followed absentmindedly. It only saw a human pest in front, but suddenly found itself trapped with pillars all around. Some of them had bone spikes and were ideal for fast movement as there were uncountable protrusions on their surface.

Someone like Aiden with profound combat techniques and energy footwork will find these walls a plain ground.

"Now we dance." – that voice sounded calm, but very bloodthirsty, seething with tremendous killing intent.

He flew up the wall, summoned petals again, and make them revolve in front like a drill, coating them all in Dragon Sword Aura.

Hawk took attack that aimed at it from above on wings. Sharp feathers as strong as best steel rammed into incoming revolving lotus. Using wings as a spear was a novelty, but that thing learned a couple of things. Aiden shifted direction of his body and moved petals away.

From the very start, they are not very suitable for assault.

His second spirit came in play and with downward cleave of Hell's Bane and the bonus of half the strength showed it real might.

With astonishing momentum, ice and lightning basked in the condensed aura of sharpness and rained down on its left wing with only one purpose – injury severe enough to ground this damned beast for good! But battle instincts of demons were really too outstanding. It shifted in the last second and turned the head to parry the attack, using its beak with movement as fast as lightning.

The collision sent Aiden revolving around himself and up in the air, his bone sword gaining unprecedented momentum, and came to the other wing from the blind spot. Surprisingly, this attack was even more powerful than first and the reason for that was partly Hell's Bane shifted and integrated with the bone sword, creating symbiosis empowerment to new heights.

That was a property discovered by Nexus due to pure luck and now proved to be crucial.

However even so it wasn't able to severe the wing for good, only injuring hawk significantly.

They both fell to the ground some distance away from each other. Still, there was no suspense. The moment demonic beast touched the ground it attacked again. They fought manically while wreaking havoc in their surroundings. Pillars fell one by one and finally, Storm Legion Fell Hawk made enough space to take in the air.

Although its left wing was injured, it could still fly.

"Oh no, you won't." – screamed Aiden, while taking out something from a nearby wall and hurling it to the bird.

The spear flew out, connected to the ground by the bone chain, and could pierce the lower abdomen of the hawk. It didn't go deep but was enough to startle the hawk and force it to fall down with a bang.

Right this time Aiden charged forward and rained down a flurry of attacks on its left with a bone sword enhanced by Hell's Bane. Dark green blood that smelled of sulfuric acids, splattered on the whiteness of snow with severed wing and painful screech.

And then it attacked with another wing, hitting Aiden flying. That was a necessary sacrifice. His arm snapped and cracked sending waves of pain and red blood-drenched white clothes on the chest. That strike would have killed any adult for good, but Aiden's body is different and could negate some damage.

Another reason for survival was armored clothes he made. They were not something to scoff at in terms of defense.

He flew, hitting one pillar, bouncing from another, and eventually left the line of sight of the demonic creature.

"Next time when I decide to meet a strike of a demon head-on, tell me it's a terrible idea." – while frowning in pain, Aiden shakily stood up sensing approaching enemy. His arm not only broke but was dislocated in a shoulder.

= I told you.

He went up to the wall, greeted his teeth, and hit it, putting the joint in place with a sharp cracking sound and shocking strike of agony, albeit short-lived.

"Do it several times." – he stood back up and shifted the sword in the left hand.

= I told you seven times.

"You got to be more persuasive while at it, dude." – cringed Aiden in response, not admitting defeat.

'Here it comes. Relentless as I remember.'

Aiden unleashed petals again, draining his reserves of spirit power even further. Hawk reached him helping its movements with half of the wing and immediately roared in rage while making an impressive jump and aiming its beak in sure kill strike.

Dodge then shift on the ground and he didn't attack but entangled its talons with the same bone chains that were hidden on the ground. Demon stumbled and Aiden ran up the wall using numerous protrusions and jumped down hard, plunging the sword in its back. That was the less protected area because that demonic beast was still undergoing a transformation. Its feathers shed, but sturdy chitin armor was yet to form, thus leaving back defenseless.

Hawk raged from pain and tried to throw him out of its back. Eventually, full of indignation, it hit cliffs. Aiden wasn't able to hold for long, but that's unneeded. They were near this ultimate thing, a creation of war that was then sanctioned and forbidden for use.

He noticed it on the opposite wall and slide down, igniting the last part of bodily power and spirit might in one last move. It wasn't a sword strike, but a ram!

Aiden rammed its body with all the power he had and send it flying straight on the huge copy of the trihedral bayonet! It pierced its spine that lacks any defense through, but the beast was far from dead. It wriggled out of it aggravating the wound and although eventually, a hawk came free it was a pyrrhic victory because it realized that body was losing strength fast.

That was the menace of the trihedral bayonet. Wounds from it are nearly impossible to close. They would bleed for the longest time, and practically no one survived them. Such a huge piercing wound would surely kill even a demon.

Hawk collapsed but continued to make its way to Aiden, who was backing away while lacking the strength to even stand up. After about ten minutes of a pointless struggle, it breathed its last and died, unleashing purple ring.

= Master, this hawk was 2450 years old and you already broke through to 30th layer during the fight. You can use this ring. It should come with something good.

"Let me stabilize myself first. This beast nearly made short work out of me." – he set right in front of the beak and meditated for a bit, before using Krondan, Horont and purification characteristics of platinum aura to rise to 33 level.

= Master, I believe this hawk produced something unexpected.

Aiden followed the notice and gawked in astonishment.

"Now that is the real protagonist luck, no shit, Nexus!"