Hunting

Ziya approached me slowly, like I was the prey of a beast. Once she sized me up well, she charged at me with incredible speed, the katana in her hand a silver streak in her hands. By instinct, I threw up my hands in a block position, but she changed the position of her sword at the last second, breaking my guard, and possibly one of my fingers.

The pain was excruciating, and I hadn't even thought to throw one of my kunai. I drew three of them from my belt and chucked the kunai, and to my surprise, one of them hit Ziya in the leg. Even though the wound looked deep, she didn't even let out a single wimper. She took on the pain, unlike how I had at first.

Her speed was on a completely different level than I could handle. How could I fight someone who I could barely see?

I started to just randomly throw kunai in all directions, hoping at least one of them would hit her. When all my kunai had been released from my belt, not a single scratch was on Ziya, besides the kunai that was still digging into her leg. She took her blade and went in for a direct attack on me, but a portal suddenly opened up in front of her.

"Enough Ziya. You shouldn't take advantage of someone who is weaker than you," Bruce said. I was offended, but the truth was, Bruce was right. I was weak compared to Ziya. Which meant that I had to get stronger.

"You weren't any fun at all. Tsk," Ziya complained.

A question was nagging in my mind.

"How did you open the portal? Aren't all powers disabled in the arena?"

"Well, there are exceptions to these kinds of things. You see, if a someone is over level 10,000, then they are almost immune to the effects of training arenas unless there is a powerful enchantment spell on it. Not only that, but I can travel outside the planet," Bruce replied.

"What would be stopping you before?"

This time, King Burcham opened his mouth. "You sure do have a lot of questions Andrew. You see, no one can leave this place, regardless of their power, unless they are a incredibly high level, like myself and Bruce."

I felt suddenly more intimidated. I felt as weak as Jarun, which even he was probably more powerful than me.

"You'll need proper training for your second trial later to get at least some chance at winning. Let me train with you Andrew. You too Jarun. Both of you are going to train with me."

"Aww man," Jarun complained.

While Ziya and Burcham were beginning sword techniques, I retrieved all the kunai that littered the place. After that, the preparations for the hunt began.

At first, Bruce wanted to see Jarun and my fighting style and weapon style. I personally thought that the kunai felt great, considering that I've had experience with knives.

But Bruce didn't seem to care. He just wanted to make sure it was a right fit, for both Jarun and my weapon. Once we had our fighting style situated, made us go into exercising, which consisted of multiple push-ups, high knees, burpees, planks, sit-ups, and other workouts that built up endurance and strength, with a bit of a speed. I wanted to focus mainly on my speed because that would be the most important for the race. Not only that, I wanted to test out my new ability.

Jarun and I worked out until about an hour and a half before the hunt. Even though I worked out hard, I don't think it would have been enough for the hunt. Ziya was fast, faster than I could have imagined.

So how was I going to beat someone that was faster than the naked eye could see?

---------

"Ten minutes before the trial!" a man yelled. He held some type of food on a silver tray, walking from person to person asking if they wanted any refreshments or snacks.

To be completely honest, I felt like I was going to lose. Big Time.

If I hadn't already been clear, Ziya was fucking zooming when it came to speed. She could easily outrun three or four cars at once. I could maybe run as fast as a horse, which by fifteen year old standards was pretty damn fast. But Ziya wasn't much of a normal teen. Her strength and durability were just simply too inhuman to be a fifteen year old.

If I was gonna lose, I was at least going to do it in style. I decided to do some stretches and practice my throwing technique by standing a few feet away from a tree and drawing the kunai from my belt. After about two minutes, I was able to hit a direct spot with three different kunai five times in a row.

"Hey, Andrew," a voice from behind said. "Good luck in the hunt."

I turned to see Jarun, who had a large smile on his face. His face just seemed so adorable for a kid two years younger, even if he looked ten.

"Thanks. Guess I'll need it," I replied.

"Ziya and Andrew to the starting area," the man from earlier yelled. He held a neon pink crystal in his hand, which I was guessing a timer or indicator to start. Ziya went into a running stance, while I just stood there. In the ground was a metal kind of compartment. In the metal container was screeching and wailing, almost like the sound of a pig.

The banging and screeching ended as soon as a little animal popped out. It had black skin and a mane of its own flesh. Not a single strand of hair could be seen on its body. Its eyes were lit up and red. It probably would have been scary if it hadn't had the body and size of a pig. Judging on the sounds from the compartment, it most likely had pretty decent strength. The little thing took off at a fast speed.

As soon as the animal took off, Ziya's eyes seemed to turn a venomous yellow and her pupils seemed to spread apart, connected by a vertical line. Her nails and teeth looked sharper and longer, and slight bump started to appear on her hand. I was confused, but got back to focusing on the hunt.

"5...4...3...2...1," The man counted down. Once he got to one, he yelled, "Go!"

Ziya released a long string from her palm, its silver touch slinging through the air. Once the string made contact with a tree, Ziya yanked it and she flew upwards. It seemed like she was going to use her webs to sling after the animal!

I didn't know what else to do but sprint after it. The rules didn't say I couldn't hurt Ziya... no. I wasn't that desperate. If I'm gonna win or lose, it won't be without honor.

'Damn, she's too fast' I thought, 'I'm gonna have to use my power.'

"Time stop!"

Everything around me seemed to lose its color, like it had the first time I used it. This was the perfect time to use my skill.

I felt lighter than usual, and I took the advantage of sprinting. I had gained enough speed, faster than I could've thought. I leapt up, jumping at least thirty feet into the air. I landed on a tree branch and started jumping and flipping from branch to branch, vine to vine. Everything regained its color when I was halfway through the air. I caught a branch and slid down to the ground. We were at least 5 kilometers into the forest now, neither Ziya nor I stopping to rest. I was ahead of Ziya now, so I was getting a chance. Yet, I couldn't see the animal.

The sound of branches snapping behind me suddenly started become louder. I turned to see Ziya swinging through the air. Once she passed, I saw two red eyes peek out from behind a tree. I skidded to a halt. The little guy was clever.

"This is too easy. How did Ziya not notice? Considering her sharp senses," I silently said to myself. I got down on the ground, sneaking over to the tree the animal was hiding behind.

The animal showed the rest of its body, and I snatched it off the ground, not hesitating to let it see me. It screeched loudly and tried to wiggle out of my grasp. But it just stopped moving, acting like it was dead. Yet, I could feel it breathing.

"Huh, weird," I said. "Must be its instincts."

I was started to walk back when an object came hurtling towards my head. The force was so incredible, I was almost knocked out. The force though made me lose grip of the beast, which ran off as soon as it hit the ground.

I got up, dusted myself and scolded myself and Ziya. "What the hell was that for!?!"

"Please. You don't have anything to lose. I have honor, pride, and I have more to live for than you."

"What makes you think that you're no different the others, hmm? Money? Status?"

"I am more powerful than anyone you could ever meet. Just shut up and move. Now if you'll get out of my way, I need to get back on to more important things."

"Oh hell nah. Not on my watch."

What she did was completely uncalled for. I wouldn't have tried to take it from her if she had the animal. Then again, I have a completely different attitude than she does.

"Time Stop!"

Everything lost its smell and color. Right now, I could only stop time for about ten seconds, but I wasn't completely sure. It's not like I could use a stopwatch.

I jumped into the air and slammed my fist into her gut so hard, it actually pushed me back. I doubted it would have little effect on her, but it was enough to catch up to the animal.

Everything returned to normal, except I was way ahead of her.

"Man, that's a pretty interesting power you got there. I'm not sure how it works, but it's still no match for my strings," a familiar voice said next to my ear.

I looked to my left and Ziya had a small bit of blood hanging from her mouth. I tried to draw one of my kunai from my belt— which I should've done earlier— but she was already racing a fist towards my face. I ducked down and slid, slamming straight into a boulder.

'No, not here...not now,' I thought. 'I can't lose now. I have to catch the animal.'

Byt it was already too late. My vision blurred, then went completely dark.