Ranking Up

The man with the scar across his face ran furiously as he activated his martial spirit. A green carapace like armor covered his body as two antennas grew from his head. He looked like a human cricket as he suddenly exploded with speed, jumping from tree to tree as he tried to escape.

He turned his head to look behind him from time to time, trying to see if that crazy Redmond lady was chasing him or his friend. Sadly for him it seemed like he'd gotten the shorter straw as he saw her figure approaching slowly. The man hastily activated his first spirit ability. A purple ring appeared behind him as he gained another sudden burst in speed, widening the gap slightly between him and the woman.

The woman responded in kind, a black ring appearing behind her as she ripped out a chunk of her hair. The hair in her hand slowly quickly grew in length and girth as it gained a metallic sheen, becoming a series of javelins. She raised her arm and began to lob them towards the man.

The man dodged the first few before he was struck in the leg and pinned to a tree. He reached down and pulled the javelin out of his leg, the blood quickly pouring from his leg. Looking back up he realized the woman had closed in and with his injury he knew he had no choice but to fight.

He decided to immediately go all out and activated his 7th spirit ring, Gale Cricket True Body. A large vortex of wind surrounded the man, the surrounding debris and trees were ripped from the ground as a tornado was formed. A few moments later the wind calmed, revealing a large green cricket. The cricket let out a distorted cry as it leapt towards the woman, so fast it was difficult to track with the naked eye.

The woman snorted as another black ring appeared behind her as she raised her arms in defense. Her skin rapidly taking on a metallic color as the large cricket collided against her. The sound of cracking resounded out as the large cricket rebounded off the woman in a daze, it's exoskeleton fractured.

Not giving up the opportunity she reached her hand out and grabbed one of the bug's antennas, ripping it out. The cricket shrieked in pain and anger while the woman just laughed.

"Give it up Mitch, we've fought hundreds of times before" She dropped the antenna as she reached forward and pushed the bug into the ground. "And you never even managed to scratch me!"

The bug struggled on the ground, thrashing and using its extra limbs to try and cut the woman. But her metallic skin was too tough, none of his attacks even left a mark.

Eventually he ran out of spirit power, his transformation fading away and leaving Mitch pinned to the ground by his neck. Blood trickled down from his head as his entire body ached. He had labored breathing as he struggled to speak.

"You were supposed to be dead!" he yelled with a raspy voice. The woman just smirked, pressing him harder into the ground.

"If I were that easy to kill you would've been dead long before me" She reached towards the man's legs, and with a simple squeeze of her hands the sounds of bones breaking were heard.

Mitch bit down on his lip, drawing blood as he tried to choke back his screams. He turned and glared angrily at the woman.

"Granted I never would have thought you'd join Quincy's side" the woman sighed as she sat down next to the man. Without his legs there was no way he could run. "The man's insane, I'm surprised you guys even stumbled onto the Draken Clan at all under his leadership."

"Insane? You're insane!" The man yelled, blood trickling from his mouth as he spoke. "Do you understand what will happen if we don't destroy the key?"

"Of course I do" The woman said matter-of-factly. "Why do you think I'm doing this?"

The man's face was red with fury as he listened.

"We've fought together! Bled together! Watched our friends die together!" Mitch was furious, his voice becoming raspy with all the yelling. "We've spent our entire lives fighting against these beasts, but you and the others would throw it all away just because some-"

The man yelled out in pain as the woman jab her metallic fingers into the hole in his leg.

"You know what's coming Mitch!" The woman spoke coldly. "This is our only option now! We've run out of time; we can't wait for some hero to appear and save the day. We've got to go find our own now!"

"Elizabeth, think this over, please!" The man begged, tears forming in his eyes. "You're going to get everyone killed, you're making a deal with the devil!"

The woman observed Mitch for a moment in silence, before getting up and kneeling down next to him.

"Sometimes" Elizabeth shook her head and reached out her hand, gripping Mitch's neck. "Making a deal with the devil is better than no deal at all."

…

Kai gasped as he sat up in a panic, his body covered in a thick layer of sweat. He looked around the room, finding it quite familiar.

"Uncle Wang's house?" kai mumbled. Kai moved to get up when suddenly he was struck with a terrible headache, a series of whispers assaulting his mind. Kai reached for the ring that hung from his neck, a strange energy quickly circulating through his body as the whispers died down slowly.

A couple of moments later Kai frowned, realizing something was different. The whispers hadn't completely disappeared, they remained in the back of his mind. He could only really hear them if he focused hard enough, as though it were just white noise.

Kai opened his hand, looking down at the ring Kai gasped in surprise and panic. The ring had cracked slightly! He carefully examined the ring, calming down as he realized the damage wasn't too severe and that the ring wouldn't suddenly break apart.

Sighing in relief Kai decided to explore his Spirit Realm, making sure nothing had gone wrong with the ring there either. Upon entering, Kai found himself in a familiar ocean; the whispers still talking in the back of his mind. Picking the direction of the ring Kai began swimming swiftly, finding that the whispers seemed to get louder and clearer the closer he got.

Arriving at the outskirts of the ring Kai was able to see the Siren nearby, cultivating diligently in the purple light. By this point the whispers had gotten much louder, as if people were speaking directly into his ear. He struggled to make anything out, like trying to pick a conversation out in a busy crowd.

Kai observed the ring before approaching it. Finding that it was completely unchanged, causing Kai to frown. Up until now he suspected that the two rings held some special connection, and while they might, it clearly wasn't as strong as he had originally suspected.

He carefully began approaching the ring, the voices in his head getting louder and louder until they finally stopped just as he was a couple feet from the ring.

"What in the –"Kai began when suddenly a voice returned. It sounded like an old man giving a lecture, teaching a class. Kai remained silent as he listened, the voice was somewhat broken and went silent periodically, but it was easy to understand. Soon Kai found himself following the man's instructions, circulating his Soul Power in a strange way. It seemed to be much faster and more efficient than what the Spirit Pagoda's circulation technique had provided him.

After a couple circulations Kai felt as though something broke within him. His Spirit Realm trembled slightly as Kai opened his eyes in surprise. Kai quickly left the Spirit Realm and examined his body before he began to laugh jovially, seemingly forgetting all about what had happened earlier. He had broken through to rank 20!

"Kai, you're awake!" the door the room burst open as Evelynn and Uncle Wang hastily entered. Evelynn quickly came towards him and examined his body. "How do you feel?"

"Master!" Kai looked to Evelynn excitedly. "I broke through to rank 20!"

Evelynn smiled warmly as she ruffled his hair. "Congratulations!"

On the side Uncle Wang widened his eyes as his fat seemed to shake in agitation. He never expected Kai's cultivation to be so fast.

"Does this mean I can get another Spirit Soul now?" Kai asked.

"Of course" Evelynn said, taking a phone out of her pocket. "I'll have it delivered now, it should be here tonight or tomorrow!"

Kai pumped his fist in excitement, the smile on his face freezing when he looked back towards Uncle Wang. The man had aged noticeably over the past couple years, his face covered in wrinkles. The only thing that hadn't changed was the man's weight. Kai opened his mouth, wanting to ask Uncle Wang about his father.

"We can talk when your other Master, Oscar, arrives" Uncle Wang interjected, a warm smile on his face. "Until then, why don't you blow off some steam at the training grounds. Nicole and that friend of yours are already there!"

Kai was silent as he looked towards Evelynn dejectedly. Evelynn simply smiled and shook her head. Seeing this Kai could only grit his teeth and agree, getting up from the bed and preparing to go to the training grounds.