Chapter 10 - The Hunt Begins Part 2

"Okay, Mystic Stones are both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is, of course, the ability to cultivate past the third stage. Most outsiders who are not in a powerful clan, sect, or institution of some kind are stuck at the third stage forever. Having a Mystic Stone does not guarantee that you will break past the third stage, as it depends on your hard work, talent, or external influences. The curse is that you become vulnerable to soul attacks. Your life is tied to the Mystic Stone as it becomes one with your body. If a soul attack shatters the Mystic Stone, you die. If your Mystic Stone is damaged, it affects your spiritual energy until it repairs itself," Meng Ce explained as they all sat down while Gillian tended to the horses and his own magical beast. The white tiger magical beasts of Meng Ce and Lu Shu rested among them.

"So it's another kind of weakness?" Jiro asked. "Wow. Glad I'm not a Practitioner."

"There are also seven different types of Mystic Stones: purple, cerulean, jade, gold, white, black, and crimson. Each comes with different effects and—" Meng Ce began when Gillian rushed in.

"They detected us. The small army is heading this way. Prepare yourselves! Scholar Jing, there are six humanoids. I am unsure of their strength. We must head out. Children, stick together! Kill any that emerge from the trees. Do not show mercy, for they will show you none!" Gillian roared and disappeared into the trees after bringing the horses back.

"Keep your magical beast with you. Always be ready to run. Many will pass us, and a humanoid is sure to pass as well. Take this Mystic Stone and book. It details specifics about it. Stay alive. Our magical beast tigers have a connection. If we do get separated, I will find you. Be careful and stay alive," Meng Ce warned as he passed a white crystal orb to Shu and disappeared into the trees.

"I understand," Shu said and took out Rain Slayer, the blade pulsing with a black, baleful aura. He quickly put the Mystic Stone into his storage bag while the others stared at his blade, too shocked by the baleful aura to notice the crystal orb. They shook their heads and formed a pyramid formation, with the point toward the tunnel behind them. The three mages were obviously at the back. Shu did not join their formation and stood a little to the left of the front of their formation with his magical beast at the entrance of the tunnel.

"Bring it on!" Jiro roared as they soon heard loud explosions and screams from beyond the trees in the valley.

"For our families!" Frankie roared as Hyperion emerged from the trees.

The Hyperion were numerous. They burst out of the trees, and Lu Shu saw them for the first time. The Hyperion couldn’t be called gods at all. They looked nowhere near what an angel should have looked like. They resembled beasts more than anything. They had dark blue and black skin with large horns on their heads, slightly curved to the back. They were extremely muscular brutes with large teeth and crimson glowing eyes, one pair above the other. Their eyes were completely crimson with no sign of an iris or pupil. They also had spiked bracelets on each leg, and the ground cracked beneath their feet.

"What is that?" Johannes cried. "What kind of beast is that? It looks like a mutated lion-wolf hybrid with an extremely large, muscular frame! How is that thing an angel?"

"It's not a humanoid," Frankie snarled. "Those guys look like angels, but they're not. These are the weaker ones, the peons sent to kill the stragglers. Their status would be like hunting dogs."

"He's right," Jiro growled as he readied his staff. "They send those beast-type Hyperion to attack us. They are meant to test us: test our strengths, weaknesses, teamwork, and abilities. Once they learn enough, the humanoid will appear, and they almost always win."

"Marcella, you're our best mage! Use your light to blast them with beams of light! Reginald, focus your healing magic on Frankie, Lana, Johannes, and me! Jiro, try to separate them and disrupt their attacks with your earth magic!" Mino shouted.

"Right!" the others responded, and Jiro and Frankie went on the offensive while Mino and Lana stayed by the three mages to protect them. Meanwhile, Lu Shu was under attack by the Hyperion as he was separated from the group. Lu Shu thought he would have an easy time, but the Hyperion were indeed strong.

Just one punch from them could destroy a tree. While his body was protected, he was still sent flying or smashed into the ground. Lu Shu was engaged in a never-ending battle with the Hyperion, who could not kill him while he was overwhelmed by their numbers and superior strength.

Lu Shu roared, and the baleful aura blazed to life, spreading its fear effect. The Hyperion were stunned, and he took the opportunity to slash Rain Slayer at the nearby Hyperion, killing them. He would jump atop some Hyperion and behead another as he fell to the ground.

Lu Shu thought all was going well until one of the Hyperion howled, sending a shockwave of spirit energy. It bypassed the white energy of his Eclipse Indestructible Body technique and stunned Lu Shu. He fell to his knees and gasped for breath. The Hyperion had used a soul attack. While it did no damage as he was not at the third stage, it disrupted his spirit energy flow. The Hyperion finally dealt some damage as the white energy momentarily disappeared while one Hyperion tackled Lu Shu. He cried out in pain as he was slammed into the stone wall next to the tunnel. He coughed blood on impact as cracks formed and he fell to the ground.

The white energy covered his body once again, but the Hyperion decided to ignore him and assault the seven recruits. Lu Shu used Rain Slayer as leverage and got to his feet. He drank some lion wine from his gourd, and the spirit energy inside his body increased his regeneration rate, healing the damaged areas.

"Not bad for a human," a voice said from the forest, and Lu Shu looked up.

A humanoid Hyperion had revealed itself! It was about six feet tall and had a human physique. The only difference was that it wore shining gold armor and had levitating crescent-shaped purple blades around it. The blades were shaped like a crescent moon and emitted a strange purple energy. The face was covered with a white mask that had features of a dragon. The Hyperion had golden hair and eyes with void-black wings.

"I am a true Hyperion. My servants will kill the others and increase my forces," the Hyperion laughed. "God Eaters. Ha! We may have been struck down, but it was out of jealousy! Jealousy for having the same gifts as the gods! We will rise, and once we find what we seek in this valley, this pathetic country will also become ours!"

Faster than Lu Shu could blink, the moon blades smashed against his body, slamming him into the rocks once more. The seven recruits were being overwhelmed and decided to escape, running into the tunnel. Marcella was terrified as she saw the strength of the humanoid Hyperion and ordered Mino and Johannes to drag Jiro and Frankie into the tunnel. She collapsed the tunnel entrance behind them, not even waiting to mount their horses. As the rocks blocked the tunnel entrance, she saw the Hyperion beasts feed on the horses.

"Agemo! RUN!" Reginald shouted before the tunnel was sealed completely.

"Agemo? You're quite the durable one," the humanoid laughed as the moon blades continued pounding into him. The Hyperion looked at the beasts and continued, "Leave those brats. They don't even have Mystic Stones. They're not proper sustenance. Join the others in slaying the two in the forest."

Even though the Hyperion beasts were no match for Gillian and Meng Ce, they were just mindless wolves. What their master and alpha commanded, they obeyed without question. The moon blades paused in the air as a cloud of dust formed atop a hole where Lu Shu was.

The wall trembled, and many cracks formed as the Hyperion heard a loud howl of rage. It felt a shiver down its spine as it sensed a massive flux of spirit energy. Its eyes widened as a right hand emerged first. It was no human hand. It was a dragon-monkey arm with azure scales and small bone-white claws on each of the five fingers. Lu Shu emerged, brimming with spirit energy as he drained the lion wine gourd dry. Lu Shu had activated the special ability of his Dragon Monkey Bracelet.

"Augh. That hurt!" Lu Shu said as he spat blood. "Those are no ordinary moon blades. They must have some special property as they disrupted my spirit energy flow."

"You survived. How quaint. You're the first human to survive the onslaught of my dual flying blades. That sword of yours has a baleful aura. You must have quite the background. If you were any stronger, I would be afraid. I am at the stage you humans call the peak second stage of Spirit Shaman. I am by far the weakest of the six. Be glad you met your death at the hands of a god, Agemo!" the Hyperion roared.

"Spirit energy means nothing to me! I'll just rip it out and cut off your head! God? You are no god! You're nothing but discarded trash and mere shells of what you were. I'm going to enjoy ripping those wings off your back!" Agemo roared.

Agemo parried the Moon Blades as they flew at him. The two focused their spirit energy into their right hands. Their fists collided. A large boom sounded around the forest and a wave of dust and rock exploded from their position.