Let’s play a game

Kane left the stream and headed back the way he came. He wanted to set up camp so that he could rest and recover his strength before continuing his hunt. He gained 7,200 contribution points from killing the mutant armadillo and now had a total of 8,400 contribution points. It was still too little for it to be of any use so he let it be for now.

After setting up camp in a location not too far from the lake, he spent the rest of the day roasting meat and practicing Hapkido. The next day, he went back to the stream and crossed to the other side. He wanted to see if he could find the armadillo's lair.

He happened to approach what looked like an underground cave that had it's entranced covered by a huge rock. Three monkeys were trying to push away the rock that was blocking the entrance.

Kane guessed that this might have been the armadillo's lair. The monkeys which were still in the early stages of the grunt realm kept trying to move the large rock away from the entrance.

They spotted him immediately after he arrived and threw themselves at him. They had decent speed and were very agile as they changed directions easily. If Kane was still in the grunt realm, he would have found it difficult to keep up with their swift movements. He was in the mutant realm though and they appeared slow in his eyes. The monkeys dared to try and force their way into the cave only because the armadillo had left the previous day and gone missing.

He shot three arrows almost immediately they began to move. The arrows pierced their hearts and their bodies were dragged in the direction the arrows were headed. The monkeys were killed almost instantly. He retrieved his arrows and cut open their chests to get their cores. He didn't keep the corpses because he did not fancy monkey meat.

He approached the cave entrance and tried to push the rock away. Even though he was already in the mutant realm, rolling away the stone proved to be a difficult challenge. After quite many heaves, he finally managed to free up space wide enough for him to squeeze in.

The cave was dark and the air stank with decay. The moisture content in the air was high and Kane found it difficult to breathe. Luckily, the cave was not too deep and he had already gotten to the end. There were piles of rubbish, fecal matter, and bones strewn all over the ground and Kane was so disgusted and almost wanted to throw up. He had eaten the meat of something that called this place home.

In an inconspicuous corner, he found a pile of junk and decided to check it out. After rummaging through the pile, he found two waist packs and a rusty saber. He checked the contents of the spatial waist packs when he touched them and they contained supplies like canned food, bottled water, and generic potions sold by the hunters association. The unlucky fellows who owned the waist packs might have spent their entire contribution points to buy items for hunting low-level beasts in Sharphorn ruin. Too bad they met the armadillo.

The contents of the waist pack were still in perfect condition because the armadillo did not know how to use the waist packs. After storing the waist packs in his, he picked up the saber and carefully ran his finger on the edge of the weapon and could feel that if he applied a little more pressure, he would cut his finger.

Even though his Adamantine body was still at level 1, weapons with a rating below tier 9 of the grunt realm would only leave a white mark on his skin even if he tried to cut himself with all his might. This saber in his hand could slice his skin easily if he was not careful. This meant that its rating would not be below the mutant realm. Good stuff.

Unfortunately, this saber did not have a scabbard so he just casually threw it into his waist pack. When he squeezed his way out of the cave, he was stunned by the sight in front of him.

There was a huge green snake that was roughly ten feet tall that curled itself on a tree and was intently watching the cave entrance. The scales on the snake's body was reflecting sunlight as if it was made of metal.

"Here I was wondering why that big oaf had not returned since yesterday. It turned out that he was killed by you" said the snake in a cold and emotionless voice without even attempting to move as if it was not worried about Kane running away.

Kane immediately took out the saber and was on high alert. He did not choose his bow because the snake was not too far from him. With its lean body, irregular movement pattern and it's high power level, he, who was not even a master archer like his master would undoubtedly miss his shots and die faster.

This beast talked. This meant that it was intelligent. This fight was going to be hard and he could only pray that the snake was in the same tier as him.

"Forgive my bad manners. I am known as Siruzen. You must be a genius among geniuses to be able to step into the mutant realm at such a young age. Tell me, do you have a master? is he here with you? If you of don't have a master, I am more than willing to take someone as talented as you under my wings, scales, whatever" said Siruzen with something that resembled a smile on its face.

He didn't manage to get a reply from Kane though. It was really hard to find someone as talented as Kane without a master. If the boy was here, his master might be close by or have given him a life-saving treasure. The master of a human in the mutant realm will surely be someone in a much higher realm. If Kane did as much as gave a hint that he did not have a master he would strike at the very next moment.

When he saw that Kane was trying to widen the distance between them by slowly moving backward, he could guess that the boy had no master and was here for some reason. He opened his mouth unnaturally wide and a sword flew out of its mouth and stabbed into the ground near Kane. The sword was very beautiful and the blade shone a dull green light.

"This is my gift to you. Take it and I will be your master and teach you many sword skills" said Siruzen. Kane immediately turned around and ran. Siruzen did not seem perturbed. Two bulges appeared on his body, one on each side. The bulges broke apart and became two long and skinny arms.

Siruzen then launched itself from the tree of was hanging on in Kane's direction. When it passed by the sword, it grabbed it and was almost upon Kane. Kane's heart fell. The beast's power was greater than his. He couldn't keep showing his back to the snake or he would not even know how he died.

He spun around just in time to see Siruzen swing its sword at him. When he parried the attack, the force of the impact swept him off his feet and sent him crashing into a tree. He was not yet on his feet when the second attack was on its way.

He parried the second strike and was sent flying once again. This time when he crashed into a tree, he spat a mouthful of blood. He had suffered some internal injuries. Siruzen attacked once more, this time, even faster than before. It slashed downwards as it left a green afterimage in its wake.

Kane raised his saber to defend himself. Siruzen's sword, unfortunately, sliced the saber, like a hot knife through butter. It went on to cut a big gash in his chest and he began to bleed profusely.

Kane stumbled backward and leaned on a tree. He noticed that the wound on his chest was becoming numb and the blood around that area was turning black. He had been poisoned.

Siruzen stabbed his sword into the ground as it calmly looked at Kane. "Why did you run little boy, didn't I say that I wanted to make you my student? Now, look at what you made me do. *Sigh* why don't we play a game. I will let you run. I will give you a head start. If you don't get caught by me after five minutes, I will stop hunting you. Do we have a deal?" said Siruzen with a hint of ridicule in his eyes.

Kane got up and picked up the broken saber before putting the two halves into his waist pack. He turned around and ran towards the stream. Siruzen did not bother chasing him immediately. It could sense heat signatures so Kane could not hide from him. The boy was also poisoned and would die in a ditch even if he let him be.

Kane dashed into the stream and entered his Plain. Siruzen was about to pick up his sword and chase after Kane when he suddenly jolted. It could no longer sense Kane's heat signature. He was about to go to the stream to investigate when a man with white-blonde hair tied into a ponytail appeared in front of him.