Two-star (2)

Dropping the carcass was only to distract the beast, even if only slightly. But when Shui saw that it completely ignored the rabid monkey's carcass, he almost laughed at himself.

'Well of course it wouldn't stop for a snack when there's a full course meal ready.'

The beast spirit after them had the appearance of a tiger with red fur and black stripes. It seemed to be among the lower levels of beast spirits, around early Soul Realm. However Shui's tricks were least effective against muscle-heads with bodies that were comparable to defensive artifacts. Furthermore, it was definitely fast enough to catch them before they left the forest. With such a beast on their tails, Shui saw two options.

1. Sacrifice the two siblings and escape.

2. Kill it.

Clearly, the first option was safer. Although he taught them, the siblings were still ultimately strangers so there was no reason for him to risk his life to save them. Not to mention those who would cry if he died. However, weren't they the same?

The siblings had already told him about how they lost their parents and had to look after their little siblings by themselves. If the two died here, would he bring it upon himself to take care of them? No, he didn't want such a restriction. He didn't want to see dead children, but it wasn't as if they didn't exist.

Ultimately, it came down to what type of person he wanted to be, yet despite the selfish thoughts he had, his heart was clear. To live freely, he didn't want to be shackled by a decision he knew he would regret.

"Both of you, call for help."

Shui stopped running and instead turned to face the incoming red tiger. He wasn't sure he could win, but he wasn't sure he would lose either.

"No, we'll stay t-"

"Don't bother. You'll just get in the way."

Ryan offered help but he was quickly shot down. This wasn't a battle where them helping would increase his chance of victory.

Still, despite his rejection, the two stayed standing behind him, with their gazes on his back.

"Get going! Are you going to get all three of us killed!"

"But-"

"I said leave! ...I won't die, trust me."

They didn't say anything less, the logical response was already there for them to execute. Only emotions without substance to back them up remained. They would love to stay here and fight with him, but reality wasn't that easy.

"Let's go."

Lily pulled on the hand of Ryan.

"But sis,"

"We have to. There's nothing we can do here."

Ryan's lips flapped open and shut while digging for another excuse, but his legs no longer resisted Lily's pull.

"We'll definitely bring back help."

She dragged Ryan away with a solemn face. She would no doubt feel better if one of them could remain to watch his back, but she didn't want them to become his burden.

'Please, don't make me regret this.'

To this day they still couldn't see the depth of Shui's strength, so both of them wished deeply in their hearts, that he would surpass their expectations once more.

By the time, the two ran out of the forest, the red tiger was right in front of Shui. When it was this close, Shui almost had to tilt his head upwards to see its face. It didn't bother to chase after the siblings since it could smell that Shui had the most vitality and would be the best meal.

"Puny human, surrender."

Beast spirits seemed able to speak, but rather than speaking, they were actually conveying their intention through a form of telepathy. Looking at the red tiger's arrogant face, Shui steadied his breathing and cleared his mind.

He also thought that the cloak would interfere with his movements so he took it off. Once he did, the red tiger was even more sure that the prey in front of it would be a great help in improving its condition. While it was admiring Shui's body, Shui reached for one of his twin swords.

Then, he seemed to teleport and striked with his full speed and strength. It was at the level where he would be able to behead most early Soul Realm cultivators if they were caught off guard. However instead of its neck, the sword was stopped by the paw of the red tiger that was as big as his head.

With his blade blocked by the smiling tiger's paw, Shui hastily jumped back while throwing two 'Burst' talsimans at it.

Boom!

He hoped it would at least cause a few cuts to appear but the red tiger's body was undamaged.

"Finished?"

The tiger was still in control. It was merely toying with the prey in front of it. That was the image it was trying to convey. However, Shui didn't miss the tiny streak of blood that dripped from its mouth.

'Internal injuries, huh?'

Shui didn't think his attacks could do that much, it was more likely that the red tiger was already injured. This was good news for Shui but he was pressured by the bad news of not being able to do proper damage. Even if it was injured, this foe wasn't someone he could take on in his current state.

The red tiger kept its eyes on the small human in front of it. It didn't think of him as a threat, but its injuries forced it to take a passive stance. Even so, this human was surely despairing after his failed attempt at injuring it. Maybe he would struggle for a bit longer but the red tiger was confident. This snack had already been reserved for its stomach.

Shui knew this as well, he would definitely get eaten at the current rate.

'I guess I have no choice.'

He knew that no plan he made would be a match for the absolute power that the red tiger had. And so, he had to surpass that might. Shui took out a talisman and slapped it on his chest. This talisman had the symbol for 'Strength' and enhanced the power of Shui's muscles. He knew that using a talisman in this way would impose a time limit, but if he didn't then he would die. Luckily, he still had a fruit he could use to increase that time limit.

The fruit was called potena and increased the power of one's body with the rich transcendent force that was contained within it. He could have used this fruit in the battle with the assassin, but he didn't think it was necessary at that time. Potena wasn't easy to get and was an essential ingredient in pushing him to two-star saint body after all. Despite this, he had to use it. One had to be alive to use treasures after all.

After devouring the round red fruit that he took from his satchel, Shui took off his satchel as well. There were very few offensive inscriptions that he could do since majority of them required symbols of mid-level difficulty. If even Burst didn't work, then the others wouldn't do much either.

As for the artifacts in the satchel, he only took out the shield Bartos gave him. Though he also had on a special-rank chestplate he bought recently, it would be a terrible idea if he tried to resist a strike from the tiger with just that. Just because the armour was unharmed didn't mean the one in it wouldn't be harmed.

While still masked, with only a sword and shield in his hands, Shui faced the tiger. This was his first time trying to fight head-on against a beast of Soul Realm power but fear left his heart. There was only the opponent within his sight.