Chapter 160 - Kalaripayattu Style

Whoosh!

A group of five people was chasing a spirit beast at full speed. The chased creature was a 1.5 meters high caracal. It was a feline characterized by a robust build, a short face, and long tufted ears; its fur had a sandy color instead, while the ventral area had a lighter color.

"Henry, are you sure is it a good idea to continue? I have a bad feeling about it." One of the pursuers asked the person in front of the group.

"Sergio, what are you saying? Right now, that the caracal is about to run out of energy? We are five, while that is just a stupid spirit beast. If it weren't for its speed and agility in its movements, we would have already killed him. Don't overthink things; I've already told you."

"Henry is right. We have to hunt as many second-level spirit beasts, or we won't get anything good. I'm not satisfied with just passing the test."

"Okay. I am sorry about my doubts. Let's proceed then."

Once the quick discussion was resolved, the group speeded up even further. They had been chasing that spirit beast for more than half an hour at full speed and were beginning to lose their patience. However, they couldn't give up their prey, especially not one that was so easy, and it was right in front of their eyes.

Fortunately for them, the caracal collapsed shortly after that on the ground. The upper part of its body was descending and rising as it tried to catch its breath. The caracal was by now exhausted from the long chase, and it could no longer continue. The only thing it could do was to lay on the ground waiting for its end. In its eyes, one could read regret and hatred for those two-legged creatures who had chased it so obsessively up until now.

"Excellent! It's exhausted now. Let's finish it quickly and recover the spirit core. We don't need the rest."

The team leader Henry warned his teammates, who simultaneously pulled out their weapons. On their faces, one could see expressions of happiness and relief because their long pursuit was about to end.

Whoosh!

The team leader Henry had extracted from his ring space his weapons - a normal-length sword and a round-shaped shield. As he was in front of his companions, he was also the one who would reach the caracal first. However, when his sword was about to descend on the spirit beast's neck, a purple glow suddenly flashed from his left side. Instinctively, he raised the shield he was holding with his left arm to block that glow as he suspended his attack on the caracal.

Peng!

The tip of a purple spear with red veins crashed on the metal shield making a loud noise. The impetus of the spear was so strong that Henry, despite having blocked the blow, was pushed backward by a half meter.

"What!?" Henry exclaimed as his eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

In front of him, there was a young man with brown skin who was holding the purple spear that had pushed him backward. Even more incredible was that the person wasn't alone, but other people were keeping at bay his companions.

*

A few minutes before

"They are chasing a spirit beast, but as the smell gets closer and closer, it is evident that the spirit beast is running out of energy," Lang informed the rest of her companions.

"I understand. Previously, I heard the sound of five people. Do you confirm that there are still five?" Hei asked while formulating the plan of action.

"Yes. Fenrir only senses the smell of five humans plus that smell of the chased spirit beast. He says that according to him, the spirit beast should be a caracal, a type of feline with long pointed ears."

"Oh, yes. I know what kind of spirit beast it is. It is a gorgeous creature." Mia added briefly before realizing that it wasn't the right time, and she remained silent, waiting for orders.

Hei took a quick look at his companions and communicated his decision. "There are five of them, so I, Lian, Leon, He Fen, and Lang with Fenrir will take care of them. Ye and Xing will remain in their petite form while Mia, Lilian, Mareo, and Haruno will remain hidden nearby. Make sure not to be identified and do not activate your spirit power."

"Aren't we going to fight? Is it because we are supporting martial artists? I advise you not to underestimate us so much. We aren't at the same level, but we can fight without problems." Lilian intervened resentfully because of the orders issued by Hei.

"It isn't for that reason. You know very well that I value your skills a lot, and I know that you are strong. And it is precisely for this reason that I cannot risk revealing all the cards available to us, especially if they are cards that can affect the flow of battle itself."

"Hei is right. We are martial support artists. Our task is not to fight but to support our companions. We will do as you say then. But if things should get ugly for you, we will still act, regardless of your orders. Is it okay for you?"

At Mareo's question, who always managed to maintain his rationality, Hei smiled and replied, "Okay. It seems reasonable to me."

'Big brother, what about us? Xing and I want to fight too. '
'Yup. It's not fair that Fenrir can play, and we can't.'

"Hahaha, it's not like we're going to play. You know this, don't you? Fenrir is Lang's partner. I can't give orders to him. Furthermore, I think he wants to stay with Lang to protect her all the time. As for you two, I can't reveal my best cards in front of the rest of the first-year students, can I? We have worked so hard to keep your transformative ability hidden. Unless it is necessary, you will remain hidden when confronting other humans. If we are in trouble, you can go out and fight. All right?"

'Okay, big brother. Remember, though, that if you are in danger, we will go out and fight seriously.'

When Hei had finished making arrangements for the group, the caracal had collapsed on the ground, exhausted by the long chase. Mareo led Haruno, Mia, and Lilian to a tree not far away from there. From that position, they could observe the progress of the clash. Instead, Hei led his remaining companions to surprise the group of five humans who were slashing against the caracal.

Hei aimed for the first person in the row who also seemed to be the group leader. He drew his spear and activated Spider Run - Two Legged Mode, to increase his speed. Then he directed his spear against the shield that person held on his left arm.

'We are not here to kill but only to prevent them from hunting an excessive number of spirit beasts. If it is possible, I would like to resolve things through dialogue, but this is almost impossible. Besides, I can't impose that they don't kill any spirit beast. After all, there is expulsion if you haven't enough spirit cores. It's really a thorny situation.'

"You! You are part of our first-year class. Why are you attacking me?" asked the group leader Henry while he couldn't understand why a human had just stopped him from killing a spirit beast. He could understand if it was a rare spirit beast, but the caracal slumped to the ground was just an ordinary second-level spirit beast. There was no reason why others should push themselves in for such a meager loot.

"My name is Hei. We have no bad intentions. Leave the caracal there and show us your space rings. If you have more than five spirit cores each, we will take the excess part with us. Obviously, any of your other objects will remain with you. We aren't interested in stealing your things."

Hearing what Hei said, Henry became even more disoriented and furious at the same time. "Yet you do not hesitate to steal our prey and our spirit cores. You come out of nowhere and impose orders on us as if nothing had happened. How dare you? Who do you think you are? You said you had no bad intentions, but for us, it is quite the opposite. Sergio, Felipe, Joseph, Tyson! Let's show them that we aren't guys who let themselves be intimidated by threats. You made a big mistake if you thought that just because we don't come from famous families, we are easy to manipulate at your convenience."

"Never thought of such a thing. If you have no intention of collaborating, then I will use my force."

When Hei and Henry didn't find an agreement, all the martial artists activated their spirit power and prepared themselves for the clash. Except for Fenrir, there were five martial artists on both sides. However, Lang's second-level wolf was undoubtedly not a presence that could be ignored. To this, it should also be added that the four people in Henry's group were still all in the second stage; only Henry had reached the third stage, beginner phase.

Hei and his companions instead had all reached the third initial stage, with Leon, that was even a medium third stage. Therefore, regarding their fighters' numbers and the cultivation achieved, Hei's group had the advantage of both.

"Don't be demoralized. Cultivation speed isn't everything. What really matters is one's fighting ability. Show them what you can do."

Realizing the power gap, Henry urged his companions not to lose morale. But just as he said his words of encouragement, Hei made a sudden sprint with his spear grabbed by both hands.

"Intent of the Spear, Thrust Rain!"

With the spirit power concentrated on the head, Hei made a series of thrusts with his spear forward. The speed behind those attacks was such as to leave residual images in the air. Yet despite the speed with which the spear was moving, Henry parried all the blows with his shield.

"Intent of the Shield, Strengthening!"

Hardening the thickness of spirit power on his shield, Henry moved his arm, precisely following the movements of Hei's spear. His gaze was confident and full of determination, despite being one phase behind Hei as far as cultivation was concerned.

"Spear Sweep!"

As soon as Hei finished his thrust rain, he spun his spear to make a follow-up horizontal sweep at his opponent's calves. The move had been performed so smoothly that it seemed to be part of the first technique instead of being two different spear techniques. But even so, Henry was able to dodge by jumping quickly upwards as his legs opened sideways, doing a split in the air.

"Intent of the Sword, Kalaripayattu Style, Descending Heavenly Sword!"

Henry began to spin his right hand, the one that was holding the sword, at an impressive speed. The rotation was performed by the wrist, placing that part of the body under extreme pressure. However, this rotation wasn't being done for nothing. As soon as Henry finished rotating his wrist, he lowered his sword, which had gained an incredible momentum due to the previous rotation.

Peng!

The sword that was falling on Hei was blocked by a bundle of pitch-black hair that hardened to block the cutting blade. Seeing this, Henry's eyes widened again. He didn't expect such a reaction.

"Snake Hair, Enveloping Vise!"

Hei's hair moved as if it were alive. Quickly, several pitch-black strands of hair rose and attempted to wrap around Henry and his weapons.

"Tsk! As if I will allow it!"

As he expressed his resentment against Hei, Henry kicked the pommel of the sword to throw his weapon forward. In that way, he prevented that his sword was wrapped by that live-looking hair. After that, he flew to back away from where he was.

'If you think it's over here, you're wrong. An imprint is etched on my sword; it allows me to control my sword remotely.' Henry thought as he closed the fist of his free hand to retrieve his sword.

"Spider Lance, Palm Mode!" Regardless of what the enemy was doing, Hei executed a variant of Spider Lance that he had devised. The target was the flat end of his spear.

'By applying the same force loading method, I was able to devise a palm and fist technique suitable for me. They don't have the same lethality as the normal Spider Lance, but I can still generate more power than with Vibrating Fist.'

Hei's spear was then thrown forward as Henry had done with his sword. Only, Hei's spear had assumed a higher speed than the sword had taken. As he flew backward, Henry found that he didn't have time to dodge.

"Shit! Intent of the Shield, Immovable Wall!" Henry put his shield in front of him as he stiffened his arm to prepare for the impact.

Peng!!!

A violent outburst rang in the air as Hei raised his left hand. The purple spear, once its impact was stopped, flew through the air to return to its master's hand. As with Henry, Hei's spear also had a personal imprint through which Hei could recall his spear from afar.

'I did well to have Lian etched an imprint on the spear. In that way, I can have multiple attack variations.'

Meanwhile, Henry had also recovered his weapon, but he didn't seem as calm as before. Although he had suffered no damage, the amount of spirit power he had to use to block the spear hit had been considerable.

"Shit. I admit it. You are strong. But don't think you have the victory in your pocket. I am a user of the Kalaripayattu Style, one of the deadliest styles in the Sun Empire. The imperial guards who protect the Imperial Family and the Imperial Palace are all users of the Kalaripayattu Style. There is no way I can lose against you!"

Despite the cultivation disadvantage and Hei's show of strength, Henry still had no intention of giving up. Even his companions, who were even more in trouble than he was, were still fighting with all their strength. As their leader, therefore, Henry couldn't afford to be the first to surrender. No, precisely because he was their leader, he had to fight to the end.

"Kalaripayattu Style, you say?" Hei asked between himself as he gave a quick smile in the direction of his opponent. Then he spread his legs apart, placing the left one forward and the right one backward. He also lowered the center of gravity of his body as he arched his straight back forward. The right hand was closed on the spear shaft, just above the flat end, while the left hand was open with the palm touching the spear shaft, just below the beginning of the pointed head.

Seeing this position, Henry was more shocked than he had been before. In a choked voice, he whispered, "Kalaripayattu Style, Spear Form!"