Make It Go Away

Once the wolf jumped out of the bushes and was heading for James' neck he quickly got in his fighting stance protecting his neck with the sword which is exactly where the fangs landed.

Due to the durability of the sword no matter how hard the wolf tried to bite down it wasn't able to get any farther making it quickly retreat with blood slightly leaking out of its mouth.

'Finally my first fight. From what I can tell from its aura it should be in the same realm as me.' James thought to himself as he imagined the long drawn-out fight he was about to have. However, the wolf didn't wait for James' to continue his daydreaming as it sprinted forward at a high speed when it sensed him not paying attention and aiming for his stomach.

In response, James quickly roused his Qi into his right leg strengthening it before he sent his foot forward kicking the wolf in the face with all his might crushing the wolf's face and sending its body flying into a nearby tree completely mangled.

'Huh?' James thought to himself in shock when he saw the scene. He had been expecting his hardest fight yet but for some reason, it seemed like his and the wolf's powers were not even close to the same level despite being in the same realm.

Just to make sure the wolf was dead James quickly made his way over to the wolf stabbing it in the heart before he continued to reflect on the battle. All this time he hadn't been able to fight people of his own realm since he had been training with Cara and Noel but he doubted that his technique alone would cause such brutal displays.

'I will just have to keep going and test it out on another beast.' James thought to himself as he wondered if the wolf was one of the lowest-strength beasts in the forest and he was only lucky that he got a one-shot kill.

Despite James' surprise, he didn't waste any time and quickly began dragging the body of the wolf behind him to use as food for later. None of the Disciples had been given any food to bring with them and even those that did bring something were told to leave it behind. Fourth Elder had said it was a test not only of their strength but their ability to survive in an unknown place.

James continued to walk down the stream for multiple hours not finding anyone else on his first day and not even seeing another beast. The area that he finally stopped at before it became too dark was a mountain area near the edge of the river that luckily had a small cave inside of it.

It wasn't large enough to fit both James and the wolf so James had to set his fire up outside of the cave to cook the wolf. While he was gathering firewood and cleaning out the wolf James began to smile as he remembered the times he used to do stuff like this with his family.

The hunters of the town would often go into the woods and find animals for food but of course, these ones didn't have Qi that James knew of. The job of James and his family was to clean out these animals and cook them for everyone in the village.

His mother was known as one of the best chefs in the village so she was normally given the task of deciding when the meat should be taken off and what things should go on it. James had luckily been able to take in some of this knowledge and use it in a time like this which made James more than happy.

However, soon after the images of his mother and father's dead bodies began appearing in his mind. The images of the gruesome scene left in front of his village where all of their bodies were destroyed like they were nothing.

When James began to remember these things his body began to slightly shake as his mental state began deteriorating quickly. Normally when he got this feeling he would go over to Cara or Noel and spend time with them or just talk to make himself feel better but here in the middle of the woods, they were nowhere close by leaving James to fall into the eternal abyss of his mind.

'I need them. I need them. I need them. I need them. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? I miss you. I miss you. I miss you.' James chanted in his mind as he began rocking back and forth slightly as he went into a slight panic attack.

As this was happening, the black Qi inside his body began revolving quickly. Spreading all throughout his body so that he stood up with bloodshot eyes and shot forward into the forest. He was by no means in his right mind but the only goal in his mind now was to get to the warmth and loving arms of those he loves so the aching feeling of his dead family would leave him.

The fastest way to do that was by completing the test and making his body act on its own to reach the middle platform as fast as possible.

What James didn't realize was that the speed he was moving at now was a lot faster than he had ever moved before. Not only that, the black Qi was now covering his entire body giving his aura a sense of absolute power and determination that kept most beasts in the area away.

James began making his way further and further into the forest before he finally saw in the distance a tall platform that flattened out into a stage in the middle of the forest, 'That has to be it!' James thought desperately in his mind before he continued toward it with a one track mind.