His Love Of Smiles Begins

In His first year he had never even seen the nature spirit wandering around the Myriad Forest simply because he was too weak to even get close to its territory at that point. After his second year of training he was able to eventually start stumbling across it and the aftermath it left in its wake, though it was a rare sight for him still. Today though he finally had enough confidence in fighting her. This forest may of been in a forbidden zone for most people in the area and any place around it but, if you compared it to any other area in the world it was essentially insignificant which led to most people ignoring it and leaving the forest alone even if it was a mysterious place that didn't belong in the area they were in. but in turn it also left the beasts at a weaker level then they could be if it appeared at a better place which left him with the opportunity to train peacefully without interruption but also having a sense of danger with every moment.

Why this was such a good thing though was because it left the King Of The Forest at the crisp of the Transformation stage but wasn't quite there yet which in turn left him with a perfect opponent to fight that wasn't to strong but wasn't easy for him either.

"I'll probably have to sneak attack it but even then it won't be an easy fight."

Over the years he had gotten better and better at sneaking around and learning to avoid detection against beast which also gave him the perfect chance for sneak attacks against tougher opponents to help weaken them, which he ended up using quite a bit but he knew he couldn't do it forever seeing as how not every fight would be like this and some of them would be more straightforward. At the moment though he didn't have any way to do anything else and he'd rather use any advantage he could get especially with his life on the line.

Slowly sneaking up on her, he moved as fast as he could to get into position.

Right now and throughout most of his training he never ended up using a weapon that he found suitable so for the most part he abandoned that idea and began to use his body for the most part and that continued until today even. Thankfully his body was way tougher than others so it did pack quite a punch.

Unfortunately for him though his sneak attempt ended up in vain. After passing around 15 meters between him and her, she finally noticed him and turned to look directly at him.

"Tch, I forgot."

Faithful to its name Nature Spirit it could connect to the things around them to a certain degree and with that she ended up spotting him, stopping him from sneak attacking from the distance he wanted.

"So in the end it's up close and personal."

Like almost all wild Astral Beasts the second she located him and turned to him she instantly barred her hostility from the get go. Now that he could no longer bother with stealth he also quickly broke into a run and starting charging towards her. While she was almost translucent that didn't mean he couldn't hit her especially if he added Astral Energy to his attacks. If he didn't he could still hit her but she'd take a lot less damage in return and that's what made Spirit type Astral Creatures so annoying to most people, because not all were proficient in coating their attacks properly in Astral Energy.

Thankfully for him though he had gotten the hang of it quite fast and with two years of practice became a natural at it. So to him this typical disadvantage was nothing. After a couple seconds he was already right in front of it ready to bring his fist up and take the first strike. But as he appeared in range the Nature Spirit slightly stepped back and he ended up gettingBlasted in the stomach from his blind side without even seeing her attack.

"What the?"

After getting hit and staggering back he tried to see what had happened but nothing was around him except for plants and trees.

"Is it really that fast?"

Even if it was that fast though he still had to get in range if he wanted to attack it but he did feel something slightly off with the situation but didn't pay it too much attention. Shaking off his thoughts he once again charged forward this time applying Astral Energy to his legs as well to go faster. Since last time he was caught off guard by her speed he kept a close look on her this time around unlike last time. But it happened again and he ended up getting pounded in his other side this time around.

"Gah."

With that hit he slightly lost the breath in his lungs and slightly retreated backwards to a safer distance.

"She only has so much range it seems. But how do I keep getting hit without noticing."

Two times he had been attacked without him noticing and was getting more positive that it wasn't just her speed at play here.

"Could she extend her body?"

both times he had gotten hit without seeing her body move and there was nothing else in the area besides them. So unless she really was just that much faster than him there had to be some trick to it.

"The last two times I got hit at about a meter away from her so maybe I should throw my Astral Energy at her at that range?"

He could bring his energy out further than that but at the moment that energy wasn't even close to being useful for attacking. So his only option was to get in range with her while being in his range.

"Worth a try."

After catching his breath he slightly looked up and noticed the Nature spirit staring at him with a slight smile. He knew it was mocking him because he couldn't figure out its trick but he had no time to pay attention to that or to fall for its taunts. He had to think calmly or he was going to be in a bad situation.

Starting his sprint again he charged forward at the same speed until eventually making it to his attack range. When he arrived there he brought his fist up and punched his energy forward.

"Please."

With his fist flying forward and her not looking like she was going to dodge he slightly relaxed until he released his forward momentum propelled him forward into her previous attacking range. After realizing that, he was once again struck by a fist in the stomach but combined with his momentum he was sent flying back slightly. With being sent backwards he was taken out of range of his attack once again and she avoided another blow but this time he saw it. After being hit and being sent back he saw a branch slithering into the ground out of the corner of his eye.

"So that's how it is."

With a dangerously evil smile creeping onto his face he steadied himself once again and started getting ready for his next attack.